Curiosity
by Daphneshaggydoo
Summary: What's this? A possible new power for Tensiega? Kikyo wanting revenge on Kagome? An old flame becomes rekindled? Plus the gang thinks they are being watched... There are lots of curious things about to happen in the Feudal Era...
1. Curiosity Killed The Dog?

**PLEASE NOTE****~ THIS CHAPTER WAS REVISED DUE TO VIEWER REQUEST ON 7/17/2011**

**Curiosity - Chapter One - "Curiosity Killed The... Dog?"**

Deep in the mountains of the Western Lands stood an ancient castle that only very few knew of. Now, to a normal person, this castle just seemed like a part of the mountain, overgrown with ivy and trees, but if one of great power, a demon for example, saw this particular part, they would see right through the barrier. On the other side was a grand castle, a castle which has housed the Western Lord for hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years.

It was the great Lord Sesshomaru's home that resided there, and was where he was currently headed. He was interested to see if his advisor had found out any information regarding a certain item of his. There had been a rumor spreading about that his sword, the Tenseiga, had yet another, albeit unknown, power and Sesshomaru, once he had heard about it, intended to investigate the tale to the fullest extent.

The small group was cresting the hill now that led directly to the Western Palace gates and already Rin was starting to get excited.

"Mi'lord! We're almost home! May Rin go ahead so that she may greet the guards?" The small human child looked up towards her Lord with pleading eyes. Her face instantly brightened once she saw he Lord's curt nod.

"Thank you, Mi'lord!" Rin shouted back as she ran towards the gates of the extravagant castle.

Sesshomaru looked on as Rin went and greeted the two guards, and as her chambermaid came to lead her to the bath-house. Why he had ever let her stay with him and follow him, he would never know. He was after all the feared Western Lord who despised humans, so what made him care about this one? Perhaps a bit more of his father rubbed off on him than what he thought.

"Why must you keep such a retched human child around Lord Sesshomaru? Isn't this lowly Jaken enough company for you on your travels?"

Jaken instantly regretted saying such a thing, for he was immediately stepped on by his Lord. Just like every other time.

_"Why must you treat me so my Lord? This servant has been with you longer than your ward, and yet you never discipline that human!"_

As Sesshomaru entered the gates, he was bowed to by all in the courtyard, as always. One thing did catch his eye though, his most trusted advisor, Toki, was standing in the window of the study signaling for his Lord.

_"Hn, he must have found something out while I was away. Perhaps this time it is something useful."_

Toki stood awaiting his Lord in the study. To a normal person, or demon as the case may be, Toki seemed to be in his early to late thirties. But in actuality, he was almost four thousand years old. Toki had served his current Lord's grandfather just before he had died, and he served throughout the Great Dog General's reign before he died as well.

Toki's face was not as chiseled as his Lord's, but it came close, this gave him a softer, more caring look. His cheeks were each adorned with a single deep blue stripe and his forehead held a golden star. His hair was cut to just below his shoulders and was black, but that was not due to his breeding, no, it was due to his age.

You see, an Inu-youkai is born with hair as silver as the moon, whereas humans with hair as black as night. When a human lives their life, their hair begins to gray, but with an Inu, as they grow old their hair begins to blacken.

Truth be told, that doesn't exactly mean the end of their life is near, after all, all Inu-youkai age differently, but it does show that they are becoming older. The first thing to go is their silvery hair, then maybe an attack or two, while all the while they still appear young after living for hundreds upon thousands of years. One thing is for certain though, once an Inu loses one thing, it will probably take another thousand years to lose something else of themselves, and Toki was no different. But now isn't the time to discuss youkai bloodlines….

Toki's face held a look of uncertainty, for in his hands was an old scroll sealed with an unidentifiable mark, caused by so many years of being packed away.

_"It is finally time to give him the scroll as I promised so long ago. I only hope that I have chosen the right time to share such information, and that it is not too early."_

You see, Toki had a special mission he had to fulfill, to whom he couldn't say. The only thing that he had ever divulged was that only good would come when his mission was completed.

The doors to the study suddenly burst open to reveal the Taiyoukai of the Western Lands, Sesshomaru. He ignored the bow that Toki had given him and immediately went and sat on one of the pillows surrounding the low table that served as his "desk" of sorts. He then glanced at his advisor,

"Have you finally found something out this time that is worth my looking into? Or is it another rumor that has turned out to be rubbish that you wish to tell me of?"

"Nay Lord Sesshomaru, I have found something worth you taking a look at." At that instant he gave Sesshomaru the scroll he had been holding.

"This is an old scroll that should depict all you wish to know. It is the best I can do my Lord." He calmly watched are Sesshomaru broke the seal with his claw and began to read.

Toki watched his Lord's face to see if maybe, just maybe, he would be surprised or astonished by what was in the scroll. He highly doubted it though. The day Lord Sesshomaru showed any bit of emotion was the day said Lord would lose his mind.

The old advisor decided to silently leave the room and leave the Taiyoukai to his thoughts. Toki was confident that he would be able to figure out the meaning behind the scroll on his own merit.

_"This scroll, it can't possibly be true. Or could it?"_ Sesshomaru wondered. He was about to turn and ask his advisor where he found such a scroll, but when he looked across the table, he was gone.

_"Hn, I wonder if it truly does do these things listed in this scroll. If it does, there is no telling what I could do, how it would increase my power."_

His thoughts were interrupted as a small child barreled into the room.

"Look Lord Sesshomaru! Aiko made a new kimono for Rin, do you like it Mi'lord?"

Rin twirled around in her new kimono to give Sesshomaru a full view. Her kimono was certainly a site to see, it was covered in purple crescent moons, just like the one on Sesshomaru's forehead. They stood out beautifully against the deep blue background. When she looked into his eyes, she could tell that her Lord approved of the clothing.

"Rin will go play out in the gardens now. I won't disturb you again!" And with that, she left the room.

Sesshomaru watched the doors close behind her and then looked back down at the scroll in his hands.

_"If these things are possible, it will also give Rin another chance if she is ever injured again. I must test this theory. But on whom?"_Lord Sesshomaru sat in thought for many minutes until a flicker of an idea ran across his mind.

_"Yes, that is perfect. I shall leave tomorrow to test my theory." _Sesshomaru was truly curious about this upcoming "test" of sorts.

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A/N ~ Due to requests, I decided to revise some of my chapters. This being one of them, hopefully it is improved from the way it was before.

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED**

**PROUD KAEDE/GRAMPS SUPPORTER!**


	2. The Priestess Who Doesn't Do Anything

**Curiosity - Chapter Two - "The Priestess Who Doesn't Do Anything... Or Does She?"**

While Lord Sesshomaru was preparing his plans to "test" his theory the upcoming day, a lone miko was making her way towards the south, to the village she once called home. This priestess was known far and wide for her amazing abilities throughout all of the fields that must be learned to become a priestess. That was why she was called to far into the northern mountains, to a village suffering from an extreme flu epidemic. It took quite a long time, a month to be exact, but Kikyo was able to cure most of the villagers without too many lives lost.

During her time there, she had to collect many herbs and what better thing to do while collecting herbs than to think? _"I still can't figure it out. Almost every fourteen days I feel an awful tugging on my soul, almost as if someone is trying to rip it from this clay body."_ Almost everyday this thought came back into her mind. At one time, when she felt the hard tugging begin, she sent her aura out to attempt to trace down her reincarnation to determine why this was happening. You see, this was one of the tricks Kikyo learned while in her clay body. She discovered that she could "trace" down where Kagome was since part of Kagome's soul held her clay body together.

Kikyo was able to hone in on the other half of "her soul," but couldn't get an exact pinpoint on the specific location. All she could tell, was that the awful ache had something to do with her old village, where her younger sister still resides as the village miko.

_"Perhaps Kaede knows something of what my copy is doing to make this occur." _With this thought, a plan began to take shape. There were only about four villagers left with the sickness and once they were cured, she would set out to find her reincarnation. Which brings us back to the present, where Kikyo is making her way south.

She had sent away all of her soul gatherers, for there was fear that Inuyasha would see them. He would not make his way into her plans until after she was back in the village of Edo. The first step of her plan was to find the rag-tag group and follow them until something, or someone as the case may be, makes Kagome upset and sends her back to the village. Which means Kikyo would be able to find out what causes that infernal tugging on her soul.

"My reincarnation is far to emotional. I truly do not understand how she is able to survive when Inuyasha isn't around, since she has had no formal training." At that time she began to smell smoke a little towards the right of the path she was following. Kikyo took a moment to use her miko abilities to try and sense who had occupied the clearing the night before. _"Ah, I am growing close. They camped here last night, I cam sense the small fox child's aura, the fire-cat's, and Inuyasha's. Oh Inuyasha..."_ With that she let her mind wonder for a few moments, looking back to a happier time. Once she came out of her daze, she used her abilities to cover her scent, to make it easier to trail her copy.

After a few hours, she finally caught up to the group, and she could tell she stumbled into the pre-stages of a fight. _"It's only a matter of time now. I will find out your dirty little secret Kagome, and then, I will destroy you with it."_


	3. Same Fight, Different Day

**Curiosity - Chapter 3 - "Same Fight, Different Day"**

Once again, yelling came from the middle of a forest far to the north of the land called Musashi. To a normal person, it sounded like a horrible yelling match between two people, or perhaps even a dispute between a married couple. But to the three people, and one cat, watching from the sidelines, it was nothing but. All it was was the same ol' fight on a different day.

"PLEASE INUYASHA! I am just asking to have four days to go home! You know that my mid-terms are important if you want me to stay here and search for jewels all summer. Just please let me go home and I'll be able to stay for a whole month." Kagome tried to reason with the hanyou, as she always did. All she wanted to do was go take her mid-terms to hopefully raise her grades a bit. She had been studying so hard whenever she had the chance, so since the past few days had been fairly quiet; Kagome kept staying up late into the night attempting to catch up. Which, in turn, made her extremely tired and very short tempered. _"Come on Inuyasha, just this once agree to let me go. I've got all these essays to turn in as well, and I don't want to loose them again in another fight against some rogue demon."_

"No wench! We have to find the damn jewel shards, you yourself said that there were only five left. And we know where three of them are, so there are two still out there that need to be found." Inuyasha yelled. "_I know her schooling is important and that she'll have to go to that 'summer school' if she doesn't pass. But damn it we're so close!"_

Kagome sighed and glanced up at Inuyasha through her bangs, "I told you about this two months ago that I had to return! I even promised to bring back two times the ramen that I usually bring to make up for it!"

Three onlookers, four if you include the two-tailed cat, watched with all knowing eyes from the edge of the clearing. "How long do you think this argument will last?"

Sango looked down at the little fox in her lap, "I would say it would be shorter than last time. Kagome has been staying up awfully late these past few days trying to catch up on her learning. What do you think Miroku?" Sango glanced up to the monk standing beside her. His eyes were closed in concentration, like when he was sensing the whereabouts of a demon. "Miroku? What is..." Before she could finish, she felt a small tingling of an extremely strong aura, which made Shippo and Kirara quiver in her lap. Within seconds it was gone.

"So you feel it too Sango?" Miroku opened his eyes and looked down to the slayer, when he did, Shippo piped up.

"Kirara and I felt it too. Didn't you Kirara? And boy, was it scary." Kirara agreed with a resounding "meow" but when she went to put her head back in her mistress' lap, something caught her eyes in the forest. About a hundred foot from where they were, were two sets of eyes watching them. One of the sets being amber, and the other brown. Kirara was about to alert her mistress, but stopped as she felt a dominant presence fill her mind.

_"No little neko, do not tell them of our hiding place. We will reveal ourselves in due time."_ She then looked backed into the shadows, as a way to say she wouldn't tell a soul.

Miroku looked out towards the fighting miko and hanyou, "It surprises me that they did not feel such a presence." As the three still looked on, they noticed that their miko had started balling her hands into fists at her sides. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo simultaneously started the mental countdown, "_Five, four, three, two, one. Que pounding." _

"INUYASHA SIT! SIT SIT SIT SIT!" And once again, Inuyasha was introduced to his friend dirt, about four feet worth of it. Kagome then pointedly walked straight for Sango and she, already knowing what was about to be asked of her, had Kirara go ahead and transform so that she could take Kagome back to Musashi country, to the village of Edo, and to the Bone Eaters Well.

"Thank you Sango, I'll make sure to send her back as soon as I get there. Thanks a bunch!" Kagome said as she boarded Kirara and took off.

"Don't forget my candy and suckers Kagome!"

Miroku walked up to the Inuyasha shaped crater and looked down to the hanyou inside. "My friend, when will you learn to just let Lady Kagome go when she asks it of you? You would save yourself a lot of time and pain if you just agree with her and get it over with. Like she said, she did tell you that there would need to be a trip back to the well at this time so that she would be able to take these "mid-terms" of hers." As the others joined Miroku they stood, well, in Inuyasha's case, laid, there for a few minutes before finally having Inuyasha peel himself out of the ground and glare at the monk.

"Look bouzo, if I'd a wanted your opinion, I would've asked for it! Now lets get going, we're gonna have to walk double time to make it to the old hag's before the wench gets back." When he stopped talking, he noticed that everyone had already left the clearing, without him. "Oi! Get back here damn it! Who said that you could go ahead and walk off!"

When the gang was just inside the tree line leaving the clearing, no one had looked back when they heard the bushes move and the twigs snap, figuring that it was just a deer or a boar. Inuyasha did shift his ears back, to check the noises, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Never did he notice that the smell of animal wasn't in the air as it should be if it was a deer or boar. Nor did he sense a small bit of strong aura that was let out again to possibly provoke him. But, if one of them did look back, they would have seen the figures that the sets of eyes belonged to. Oh, if only they had looked...


	4. Mirror Mirror on the Rock Wall

**Curiosity - Chapter 4 - "Mirror Mirror on the Rock Wall..."**

***Two days earlier***

"Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru! Aren't you going to take this lowly Jaken with you?" The small imp cried while running out the front gates of the castle towards his Lord. As Jaken came to a stop in front of his Lord, he received the answer he was dreading to hear.

"Jaken, you are to stay and take care of Rin." Sesshomaru passively spoke as always. _"No, no, I can't be left behind again with Rin! Last time I was left in charge I wasn't able to get all of the flowers off my staff for a week."_ Jaken gave a pleading look to his Lord, attempting to sway his final decision. But all he received was yet another order,

"I believe it is time for Rin to begin her studies for the day." With that Sesshomaru turned to face the woods that surrounded his castle, knowing that Jaken was running into the castle to tend to Rin. After all, it was Jaken's duty to teach the child, so he had to stay here with her. And besides that, he is awfully annoying after only a few hours of travel.

Today was when Sesshomaru was going to go and test this "theory" he had discovered in the scroll that Toki had given him three days before. He had to delay his trip for, as it turned out, it was time for his army's yearly inspection as per tradition. "I pray to the Gods that you have a safe journey Mi'Lord. May you be able to find the answers to your questions, and discover the meaning of what was written in the scroll." Toki spoke as he bowed low before Sesshomaru. "Do not worry about anything while you are gone. I will make sure everyone stays in line as always and that Rin is safe from harm." He added that last part for Sesshomaru's peace of mind. It never ceased to amaze him how much he cared for Rin. No matter how hard he tried to hide his feelings. Toki, of course, knew all of the signs for he had seen them across faces before.

Sesshomaru ignored Toki as he began his journey. After all, not responding to Toki was nothing new. Violet eyes followed the ice Lord until he was no longer in sight and then turned to make his way back into the study. He was trying to begin the day, starting with the pile of scrolls needing to be gone through setting on the table. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe, this wasn't the right time to give Lord Sesshomaru the scroll. Toki glanced around the room attempting to find something to possibly put his mind at ease about what he had done.

His eyes fell to an elaborate painting on the far wall, it was of the former Western Lord in all his true demon glory. For some reason, it had always given Toki the feeling that no matter the circumstances they were under, everything would be alright. _"I truly hope that I made the right decision. I just can't shake the feeling that something dark is going to happen once this is all said and done._ Once again the feeling of calmness washed over him, but only just enough to help him concentrate on his work that had to be done. Toki couldn't help the shiver that went up his spine. Yes, there certainly was something ominous afoot.

***With Sesshomaru***

Sesshomaru's plan was an easy one, even by his high standards. All that needed to be done was to make his way to what would be used as his "experiment" and to test the theory that was mentioned in the scroll that he had read the night before.

Currently, he was walking through the dense woods towards the northern border of his lands making his way to his goal. When he got to the border, there only stood a solid rock wall, to the untrained eye that is. _"Hn, finally a reason to use this portal._ Sesshomaru raised his hand to the rock wall and placed his palm upon it. The rock suddenly began to melt beneath his palm thanks to the massive amount of poison he released. Once there was large enough hole for a man to fit through, Sesshomaru removed his palm, which gave him a full view of the dark swirling vortex.

You see, the portal was placed here long ago, by Sesshomaru's grandfather. Legend told that the former Western Lord had one of the rarest gifts an InuYoukai could have, the gift of "sight." (Or what his father called him, a seer.) Some of his many visions included one of the clan needing to get to a loved one, or help stop a war, but not being able to make it in time. Hence, the idea for the portal came up, a portal which would take you anywhere in this world that you desired. Apparently he had seen many visions in which someone down the line through his family would need it at one time or another. And so he placed it here and "locked it," the key to the portal of course being an InuYoukai's poison.

Sesshomaru stood there for but a moment, until finally deciding to dart into the vortex. The rock wall of course closing itself promptly behind him. Staring straight ahead, willing his destination to appear, he knew the portal would know where to take him, but he still had to say something to activate it's magic.

"Alright, you know where I wish to go."

And with those few words, the portal immediately began to lighten in color and his destination began to appear...

**A/N - Please understand, in the last chapter, it has been three days since Kikyo started tracking Inuyasha and the fight started between Kagome and Inuyasha. So, this chapter is taking place BEFORE they get into a fight while heading back to Kaede's, but it has only been a day since Kikyo began following them.**


	5. It Can't Be Can It?

**Curiosity - Chapter 5 - "It Can't Be... Can It?**

The swirling vortex around Sesshomaru began to lighten and take shape. Although, there wasn't really all that much shape. Before him stood what no words could describe, there was no plant life, no demons or humans for that matter, and the only animals were brown "bird" looking things flying above the Western Lord's head.

Amber eyes glided over the landscape, looking for the item he was to "test" his theory on. Then his eyes fell on his intended "target" which was approximately thirty miles from his current position. He could clearly see it from his current position, after all, demons had extremely good eyesight. _"Hn, who would have thought that there would have been a way to bring you back?"_ All though, he would never admit it, Sesshomaru did wonder what life would have been like if that dreadful event hadn't occurred so many years ago. "I still blame both of them for causing that to happen. That event never would have happened if it wasn't for them!" Sesshomaru stated smugly, with a rarely seen glint of anger in his eyes.

Within moments of that small burst of emotion, he was traveling across the plain using his ball of youkai energy. It took him less than two minutes to reach his destination, and he now stood before that which was lost to him so long ago. Sesshomaru's eyes scanned the huge pile in front of him, the "landmark" that was once there was now nothing but a pile of ash and armor. "_Perhaps this was a result of my poison. Forgive me for ruining your resting place."_ The Western Lord thought sadly as he stared at the only thing left of the grave.

Suddenly he felt Tenseiga shaking forcefully at his hip, practically demanding to be released from its sheath. Sesshomaru tilted his head to looked at his family heirloom, now noticing that it was not only shaking but pulsing rapidly as well. Although the Sesshomaru knew the sword didn't have a conscious mind, he could sometimes "feel" what the sword wanted to do. (As far as deciding who or who not to resurrect.) At that particular moment the Western Lord was "feeling" excitement, anticipation, and... longing? Was the Tenseiga actually eager to bring back what used to be this pile of ash and armor before him? "_This Sesshomaru is about to find out."_

Stepping back a few feet, Sesshomaru drew the famed sword of life out of its sheath and pointed it toward the rubble in front of him. Tenseiga was now pulsing more rapidly than it had ever in the entire time that Sesshomaru had owned the sword, it was apparently REALLY wanting to bring back whatever the pile had once been when it was alive. The sword started glowing as it usually did when working its "magic" and Sesshomaru saw all of the surrounding area disappear, only leaving the pile before him. His eyes widened slightly at the sight he saw before him. There were dozens, perhaps even hundreds of imps tying chains and ropes to what was left of this "creatures" soul. _"Or perhaps, he had enough power to keep his whole soul here this entire time? How interesting."_

Tenseiga's magic was becoming stronger by the moment, seemly trying to build up enough energy to attempt to accomplish such a feat. There was no doubt in Sesshomaru's mind that his goal would be accomplished, in fact, he didn't know the meaning of the word doubt. "It is time to begin." Sesshomaru brought Tenseiga above his head, ready to strike as he spoke the chant mentioned in the scroll. "Throughout these times that you've been dead, and others have stood alive in thy stead. Now is the time for thee to walk once again among us, For your aide is needed among the living to make things right and just!"

With that, he swung Tenseiga's blade down and struck the pile in front of him. All of the energy that had been built up within the sword blasted through all the imps attempting to take whatever was left of the creatures soul. The blue wave of healing quickly began the agonizing task of restoring whatever or whoever this being once was. It looked as if the swords magic was working overtime, the blue aura from the sword's magic surrounding the pile just kept getting brighter and brighter. It was almost to the point of where Sesshomaru would have to turn away to avoid losing his sight, but he kept on watching what was happening in front of him, wanting to catch every detail of what this "new" power held.

To say that the things happening before Sesshomaru were amazing was an understatement. What was once ash was now shaping and rebuilding itself into what was once bone. Then the bones started to find each other and connect in the way the were rightfully supposed to go. And from there the muscle tissues started growing back, as well as the internal organs. Those two processes by themselves took almost two hours to complete, after all, this being had been here for how long? It was obvious that it was going to take a while for the everything else to be completed.

Finally, the skin began to grow over the newly formed muscles. The skin didn't take as long to grow back as Sesshomaru thought it would, he also noticed that this new skin was free of all of the scars that had marred this person so long ago. All that was left on his skin were the hereditary markings that showed others who he was. The blue aura slowly started to dissipate, but it didn't leave the body that now laid in what once was a pile of ash and armor. No, the aura was receding into the persons heart, which was not beating as of yet. Within minutes the last of the aura dissipated and Sesshomaru let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding in, for heard another heartbeat other than his own.

Sesshomaru slowly made his way towards the figure and looked over the persons body to make sure everything was there and in place as it was supposed to be. _"Hn, I can't actually check to make for sure though. Amazing, Tenseiga even regenerated his clothing. Is there no limit to what this sword can bring back?"_

A groan disrupted his thoughts and he turned to the face of the person laying in front of him. He noticed that he was sniffing the air, testing it to see if there were any enemies around, for it was instinct. The person sluggishly opened his eyes, allowing them to readjust to the light they hadn't seen in such a long time.

After a few moments, a pair of eyes lost their glossy look and starred at person above them. His mouth opened in an attempt to say something, but couldn't since he was so very parched. _"How long has it been since I last talked? I can't remember..." _The man swallowed a few times and once again turned his gaze to the person staring at him. "Se...Sess...Sesshomaru?" He questioned in a whispered, scratchy voice.

Sesshomaru curtly nodded to the man, "Welcome back..." he paused and let a small glint of happiness show through his eyes.

"Father."

**A/N - I would like to ask if someone could possibly leave a review for me please? I was just wondering what someone thought of how this story was going so far. Even if it is just one person I would greatly appreciate it!**


	6. Things Change But I Am The Same

**Curiosity - Chapter 6 - "Things Change... But I Am The Same"**

"Uh, what happened to me?" Touga spoke as he attempted to get up, only to end up back on the ground. _"Keh, guess it's going to take a while to get my strength back." _He took a look at the area surrounding him, amazed at how barren the land was. What had happened while he was... dead? _"I remember trying to watch over my family after I left this world. But, I ran out of energy... I couldn't hold the connection to this earth any longer." _Touga's eyes widened slightly as many thoughts ran through his head at once. Had this plain been what was left of the great fire which overtook the castle? What had happened to his family? Were they safe and unharmed? If only he knew...

Sesshomaru watched his father's face closely, easily identifying all of the emotions that ran across it. After a few moments, Touga finally schooled his features, making himself looked calm and collected. But his scent told Sesshomaru otherwise. Nervousness and fear laced his scent, and he knew exactly what his father was afraid of.

"Father, we must leave this place at once. The portal won't stay open much longer." Touga jerked his head towards his eldest son with a start at this statement and was even more surprised when he heard what came out of his mouth next. "This is not the real world. We are in what some would describe as you final resting place, your grave." When he finished speaking, he noticed that his father was standing shakily in front of him. "Now, let us make our leave."

Both Inuyoukai turned the east and made their way to the rapidly closing portal. The first few miles were spent running, for Touga had to get the feel of his body again. When they reached mile ten, he suddenly released his inner beast and made his way to the portal even faster while he left Sesshomaru in the dust. _"Ahhh... It feels great to be alive again!" _He and his inner beast thought in unison. As the portal came into view he could see out the corner of his eye that Sesshomaru was following him using his youkai energy ball. So he went ahead and entered the portal, knowing that his eldest would follow him.

Moments later, both were back by the mountain side that housed the portal. Touga immediately reverted back to his humanoid form and took in the clearing around them. "Not much has changed since I was last here. You did well Sesshomaru, your grandfather would be proud." He looked at Sesshomaru with a face of approval for the way he used the ancient portal. Meanwhile his nose was working over time scenting the area for possible threats. When he discovered there were no impeding threats, he turned back to look at his son. _"He has become colder since I last saw him. My son is so like his mother..." _

But, he couldn't muddle over the similarities between his eldest and his mother now. At the forefront of his mind was the need to know how his true love and youngest son were. He had to find out what had happened to them while he was... dead. "Sesshomaru, we must head off towards the village so that we may find them!" Sesshomaru knew what village his father spoke of, for that was the only one he talked about more often than others. Touga turned and was about to leap off in the general direction of said village, but what his son said next stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Father, she is dead."

_"No... no... she can't be..."_ As soon as the word "dead" came from Sesshomaru's mouth the world around him froze. No sounds could be heard from the forest surrounding them,. Even the trees looked as if they were wallowing in sorrow of the news. Ever so slowly, frantic looking amber eyes turned to meet the stone cold amber of his son. "What do you mean 'she is dead'? I know she escaped the fire!" With the last sentence a flood of memories decided to flow through his mind.

_"I was protecting her... that's right. I fought off the man who killed her so that she could escape. What was his name? Taki.. Tama... Tako.. Takenmaru? That's it! Takenmaru of Setsuna! Could he have gone to finish the job after he killed me? No, I know I killed him, I remember watching him fall. Or did I?"_

A look of pure horror crossed his face. What if it was all his fault that his love was now dead? The more he thought about it, the more it angered him. The anger took control of him so badly that it made him see red. Those red eyes turned again to his eldest son, with a look that demanded answers.

"What happened to her! To your brother! Did she not escape as I thought she had! And what of Takenmaru?" Touga voice was deep when he asked the questions, which showed that his beast had just about taken over his body.

Even under the questioning of his fathers beast, which most demons would be frightened of, Sesshomaru stood his ground. He was not afraid of his father as many others were, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to set Touga's beast off on a wild killing spree either.

"Your human escaped exactly as you ordered her to. No one went after her if that is what you are insinuating. She died of an incurable illness within her village four years after your untimely death. As for my HALF-brother, that fool has still managed to somehow stay alive." That last bit of information was spoken just as the others. But Touga knew his son, he could tell there was an underlying meaning to what he had said about Inuyasha. One that could only be described as hatred for his brother, and this thought infuriated him.

Only a second had passed before Sesshomaru saw shards of rock flying out in front of him caused by his father's fist slamming into the rock wall behind him, the fist mere centimeters from his head.

**"WHY DO YOU SPEAK IN SUCH A WAY TO ME?" **Touga's beast roared in fury. Only then did he truly notice that something had changed. With such a close view of his son's face he could tell that he had aged. No longer did it hold the look of a boy, his son looked like the man he now was. It as then that his brain made the connection that it had failed to make when he had first awoken.

_"How long?" _

How long had it been since he had breathed? Since he had set eyes on the world? Gazed into his love's eyes?

He had to know, he just had to. Was there a possibility that Sesshomaru knew where Inuyasha was? Where his true love was buried? Touga was determined to bring his broken family back together again. _"I will not rest until she is back in my arms, safe and sound."_

Slowly, Touga pulled himself back from the wall, but by only a couple of steps. He gave his son a look that meant if he didn't answer him there would surely be trouble. With that, he let those two minuscule words tumble from his mouth...

"How long?"


	7. It Must Be Done!

_**Curiosity - Chapter 7 - "It Must Be Done!"**_

Keeping his gaze towards his father steady, Sesshomaru replied simply as if the answer was insignificant,

"It has been two hundred years since you death."

The word "shocked" wouldn't even start to describe the look that was on the former Western Lord's face. If anyone were to look on him in that moment, none would be able to tell what he was thinking. Touga spent what felt to him like hours staring at his and Sesshomaru's feet, suddenly finding them very interesting. When he finally rounded up his seemingly endless amount of thoughts running through his head, his gaze fixated back to stare at his son.

"T..t...two h...hundred years?" He questioned again, not even trying to hide his stuttering. "Now I know you are not one for jokes or games, but you can't be serious! Nothing in these woods have changed! The area still smells as it did the last time I was here!" Touga now had a look of pure worry on his face as he slowly backed away from his son._ "No, no, it can't be true... he can't be right... I couldn't have been gone so long... could I?" _

Sesshomaru could tell that his father was borderline allowing his beast to take over. _"He must be calmed, else he could cause some true damage." _

"Father, it has been just barely over two hundred years since you last walked this earth. You know that this Sesshomaru would never lie to an elder, one of the many lessons I learned from you."

Taking a few moments to calm himself by deep breathing, Touga was able to gain enough control to keep his inner beast at bay. _"At least for a little while, unless I am angered again." _

The forest surrounding the clearing became eerily quiet while Touga stood in the center motionless, letting all of what he had just learned sink in. He just couldn't believe what he was told. Two hundred years? Had it truly been that long since he had walked this plain? Oh, what his love must have gone through during those last few years of her life. She must have been miserable without him there to protect her and their son.

Wait! He almost forgot all about Inuyasha! _"Sesshomaru said that Inuyasha somehow managed to keep himself alive over the years. Does he means that Inuyasha practically raised himself? I'll just have to find out." _

Before he had the chance to question Sesshomaru about the whereabouts of his youngest son, his inner beast decided to make an appearance in his mind.

_**"No, find pup later. We get mate back now!"**_

_"Our love cannot come back, she has been dead for years. She wouldn't be able to come back even if we could somehow revive her."_

_**"You forgot."**_

_"What are you talking about? Forgotten what?"_

_**"Alpha prophesy."**_

_"One of father's prophesies? But which? He saw so much..."_

_**"Mate."**_

_"I know it is hard, but you must be more clear. He saw bits and pieces of our future about both our mates."_

_**"True mate, when alpha die."**_

When he heard that reply from his beast, memories from years past began to flood into his mind. There was one memory in particular that kept popping up again and again. It was of his father on his deathbed...

***Flashback***

Touga silently stepped into his father's room, the smell of death getting stronger as the minutes passed. He knew his father's time in this world was nearing it's end. His father, Yatsuo, had requested his appearance one last time. For what, Touga did not know, but he did want to be there when his father passed on into the spirit world.

"Come closer my son, I wish tell you something."

Touga made his way closer to his father. Yatsuo's prone form sent chills up Touga's spine. Never in his four hundred years of life had he seen any demon look so sickly. His father had somehow contracted an illness that had become untreatable, it reduced his body to practically skin and bones. When he kneeled down next to his father, he saw that his eyes were once again glazed over, just as they were when Yatsuo saw bits of the past, present, or future.

Yatsuo took a hold on his son's hand and gripped it tightly. "Touga, you have not yet found your true mate."

Said inuyoukai's eyes widened, "What do you mean father? You saw where I would take Katsumi as mate, yet now you say she isn't my true mate. If she isn't, then who is?"

The corners of Yatsuo's mouth quirked up by just a margin. _"Ah, my son. You are still so naive." _He opened his mouth to speak, but only a coughing fit followed in it's wake. Catching his breath, Yatsuo began again, "Your true mate, she is an extremely beautiful princess. The prettiest of her kind, but be warned my son, a great trial will befall the both of you to see if your love prevails." With that, Yatsuo's breath started becoming short and Touga could tell that he had little time left on this earth.

"Father what do you mean by 'her kind'? Why must we be tested to see if our loves prevails?"

Taking in a deep breath, the soon departing Western Lord started speaking what he knew were his final words. "Bringing her back is the only way, it all depends on what you say."

"Please not another one of your riddles."

"Brought back from the dead she once was, but what brought her back then won't bring her back now. The eldest does nothing to help thy mate, so calling her back will be your fate. The power of love maybe strong, but it won't be enough. There is a power that must guide her, you will need her to help..." Another coughing fit overtook him, this one worse than the others, for when he pulled his hand back blood was trickling out the corner of his mouth.

"Who? Who is this woman? What must she help with?" Touga asked frantically.

Barely above a whispering tone, Yatsuo said his parting words. "All must be alive for the world to be saved."

And with that, he was gone.

***End Flashback***

_"Is this what he meant? I have to go bring her back, but isn't her body to far gone or perhaps not even there?" _Touga had to know where his true mate was buried and he needed to figure out how to bring her back. His father's prophesies had always been right, and he had a feeling that if this one wasn't fufilled a great turmoil would come to this world.

The entire time Touga was having his flashback, Sesshomaru just stayed where he stood, knowing the question that was about to be asked.

"Where is she buried Sesshomaru?" His father asked calmly while still staring at the ground.

"Hn, your human's grave is on the hill that overlooks the river at our eastern border, she is under the Sakura tree that now stands there."

Touga's gaze rose to look at the eastern skies, "Good, we must get going or else we won't make it there before nightfall. You have to help me bring her back, she is required to help ensure our futures." He began to take off when he noticed that Sesshomaru wasn't following him. He turned to look at his son and was disappointed with the cold response he received.

"I will not follow you father, there is no need to bring back that weak mortal that claims to love you. You will make this foolish journey alone."

"Sesshomaru, you will come with me. It is part of your destiny to help bring her..." He angrily replied before being cut off.

"Hn, this Sesshomaru refuses to help revive your human. She is not needed..." In that rare instance, Sesshomaru stopped short when he felt his father's beast taking control of him again.

"_**Grrrrr... IT MUST BE DONE!"**_


	8. Awaken Thy Spirit

**Curiosity - Chapter 8 - "Awaken Thy Spirit"**

Sesshomaru stared coolly at his father after the outburst. There was no way he would help this human come back as his father had. "No, it mustn't be done father. What has she done that makes her deserve a second chance in this world?"

Touga's red tinged eyes narrowed with anger as he stared at his eldest son. How could he say such a thing! She had understood him as his first mate never had, showed how much she loved him openly, was never afraid of him as so many others were, and most of all, she birthed him a son. A son that proved just how deep their love ran, to the point that she as willing to have a family with him even with the fear of rejection from her own kind.

"_**Mate must come back! Mate do much..."**_

"Hn, she never did anything of worth, much like the other humans of this world." Sesshomaru interrupted.

"_**Pup wrong. Not like others, mate care."**_

"That weak woman never cared for you..."

_**"Grrrrr... must respect alpha-female pup!" **_Touga's inner beast was getting quite angry now. Anymore of this would certainly make him take on his true form.

The cold eyes of a son narrowed to stare at his father. How dare he say such a thing! That human was not his alpha-female, the only person to fill that position was his own mother. _"That woman does not have the knowledge to be alpha-female, yet alone understand the inuyoukai way."_

What was said next, would begin the drift between father and son.

"The only thing that woman ever did for you was lead you to your early demise!" Sesshomaru snarled through his teeth.

It took all of Touga's strength to hold back his inner beast from attacking his son. Why did Sesshomaru have to be this way? Why couldn't he have gotten more of his father's attitude instead of being so much like his mother? _"Wait, could this be what father saw in his last vision? He said, 'The eldest son does nothing to help thy mate, so calling her back will be your fate.' That means Sesshomaru doesn't care, so he will not assist me in bringing her back."_

Sesshomaru could tell that he had little time before he really had trouble on his hands, or in his case hand, so he bid Touga farewell.

"If you truly desire to fetch back your woman from the grave, that will be all on your shoulders. I will have absolutely no part of it." And with that, an energy ball took place where Sesshomaru was and floated away at top speed.

In the moments after Sesshomaru left, hundreds of trees became victims of Touga's claws. Now, he was taking deep breaths, attempting to calm his inner beast along with his anger.

"So, that part of father's prophecy did come true after all." Touga spoke as he looked towards the waning sun in the west. _"I had better get going, the quicker I leave, the faster I will have her back in my arms." _

With that last thought, Touga began his long trek towards his "lost" love. It took him well into the night, but he finally made it close to where his mate lay. About two hundred yards away from her grave he slowed to a walk. Why you ask... simple, he was afraid. Him, once the most renowned Western Lord was scared. This was one of the last things he had ever wanted to do, he never wanted to have to stand before his mate's grave.

Plus, he just needed those extra seconds to sort through the questions that had been seeping into his mind during his entire trek here.

How exactly would he bring her back? Yatsuo had said that she would need a power to guide her, but what is that power? Is it something that would need to be found? What were the consequences if she couldn't be brought back? All the questions disappeared from his mind when he finally saw the one thing he had been dreading.

Before him, a mere ten foot away, stood the gravestone of his love. Touga felt a burning sensation behind his eyes, and something wet flow down his cheek. He reached up to wipe the wetness away and to see what it was. When he pulled his hand back, a lone drop of water laid on the tip of his finger.

_"A tear? I guess I genuinely did care about her."_

He looked up to tree behind where she lay and a memory from long ago came back to him. _"That's right, we planted that sakura tree after we mated. I remember her saying that by planting it in our favorite spot, that the larger it grew throughout the years, the more our love would grow for one another. God how I miss her."_

Soft amber eyes turned to fall back to the gravestone of his loved one. Three of his large steps was all it took to place him directly in front of it, and he kneeled down to get a closer look. A solitary claw reached up to trace the name on the stone, and the burning sensation once again returned to Touga's eyes.

"My love, what have I done?" He spoke barely above a whisper, "I should have ran with you and Inuyasha to safety that night, not stayed to avenge you. You must have thought that in a sense, I had abandoned you. I assure you that I didn't, nor never would have in a million years. Have you any idea how much I truly..." Emotions were running wild now and he knew he should hold them back, but it was finally time to let this out.

"How much I honestly loved you? When I first saw you I knew you were who father spoke of, for I fell instantly in love. But I guess it doesn't matter now does it? Father's prophesies have always come true and he said my love alone wouldn't bring you back." He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths before continuing again.

"I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you or our son my mate. If I only knew the way to bring you back, I would do it in a heartbeat."

Unbeknownst to Touga, a figure stood behind him. It wasn't an evil being, but a kind and gentle one. A smile slowly appeared on his face as he watched the man before him confess his love towards his dead mate.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw and felt the pulsing of an unknown power coming from the grave. "It is time." A mysterious voice whispered on the wind.

The figure twisted its head to look behind him and extended out his hand, "Come my dear, your time to return is upon us." Suddenly another figure appeared just beyond the first and clasp his hand before coming to stand beside him. "You will take good care of him, won't you?"

A feminine giggle answered part of his question, "Of course I will, finally we will be together again." The woman started walking towards the grave, but paused and glanced back towards her companion. "Thank you for keeping me company over the years, Yatsuo."

A hearty laugh preceded her reply, "Anytime my dear, but hopefully we won't have this happen again anywhere in the near future." And with that, he disappeared.

The woman started walking back towards the grave and once there, she leaned down and touched the stone. When she touched it, she began to feel herself pulsing along with the odd power. _"Soon we will be together again my love."_

It was at this time that Touga had noticed the magic pulsing around him. Fearing that a demon had snuck up on him in his moment of grief, he backed away and prepared for battle. But what he saw astonished him. Underneath the full moon's glow, he saw the outline of a woman taking shape, and he started to hear a heartbeat. Before he knew it he could see the woman's full head of long, luscious black hair, along with her exquisite kimono. At that moment, his mind came to a screeching halt,

_"Wait, I recognize that kimono. I got it for..." _His thoughts were interrupted when the woman turned around and finally revealed her face.

Warm brown eyes greeted soft amber and lit up with happiness as a she uttered a signal word. "Beloved."

Not even a second had passed before she was engulfed in Touga's warm embrace.

"Izayoi."


	9. Follow The Leader

**Curiosity - Chapter Nine - "Follow The Leader"**

Together they stood embracing for, what to them, had seemed like hours. But that wasn't true for the moon was still high in the sky. They relished their reunion embrace for just a while longer until they finally relinquished their hold upon one another. Both were held at arms length, neither one believing the other was truly there, that they were finally reunited.

"Izayoi I'm," Touga choked, his emotions were taking over again, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you or our son." He looked down to his mate to see a small, sad smile grace her features. _"Even when she is sad, she looks like a goddess."_

A petite hand caressing his cheek brought him out of his thoughts. "Beloved, I was never mad at you for I knew that someday we would be together again." Sadness began to enter her scent as she tilted her head down to look at an interesting blade of grass. "The only thing I regret was... was you and I weren't there to watch Inuyasha grow up. We weren't there to take care of him and..."

Touga interrupted her by tilting her head up so he could look into her saddened brown eyes. "It's ok Izayoi. That is one thing I regret myself, but I bet we could find him now. Sesshomaru told me in my rage that Inuyasha somehow managed to stay alive all these years. Perhaps we could try to make our way back into his life."

"You mean he's alive? Oh, that is wonderful news my beloved." She smiled as she stared up into the boughs of the sakura tree, memories of a silver haired child running through her mind.

Both stared at the swaying boughs for a few moments until Touga spoke, "You were right."

Brown and amber eyes stared at each other at this statement, one set surprised, and the other set calm. "What on earth do you mean 'I was right'?"

A hearty chuckle was heard throughout the forest at that, "Don't you remember mate?" He turned her to look at the trunk of the tree, "You said the day we planted this tree that as it grew throughout the years, our love would grow. What you said was true, for I love you more now than I ever did all those years ago."

He felt her body tense after that last sentence, and the scent of fear permeated the air, "Izayoi, what is wrong?"

She took a deep breath before answering, "You said 'all those years ago,' from how you said it years have passed. How...?" Touga shushed her with a single claw to her lips.

"I really hoped you wouldn't find this out, but I knew it would come up eventually. Izayoi," a hesitant pause answered her name, "It has been two hundred years since we walked this plain. Izayoi!" Touga looked down at the woman in his arms to see that she had fainted. _"Keh, I knew it would surprise her, but I honestly didn't think it would have affected her this much."_

Without trying to jar her to much, Touga hoisted her into his arms and began to walk away from the tree and the river. As he walked away, he never noticed that the stone that once marked Izayoi's resting place had vanished.

About twenty minutes later, Izayoi was finally starting to regain her consciousness. _"Hmmm, that was a wonderful dream. I finally got to see my beloved again after so long. In fact I can still feel his arms around me. Wait..."_ Slowly she opened her eyes and she saw the proof that her dream was in fact reality. _"It was real, we've finally been reunited."_

"So, you've decided to wake up have you?"

The small woman he held frowned at the smirk that appeared on his face, "Well, I can't help that I was shocked when you told me how long we've been gone. What could have happened to Inuyasha during all those years? How much has changed in Japan since our *gulp* time?"

"I understand mate and it will take a while to find out what all has changed. But we will find out what happened to Inuyasha soon enough. I caught a whiff of his scent a few minutes ago, which I'm following now, and from what I can tell he isn't alone."

"He isn't alone? Oh no, you don't mean?"

"No, no mate, I don't mean that there is an enemy after him. They other scents don't contain anything hostile, in fact, the whole lot smells as if they are a pack." _"A startlingly mismatched one at that."_

Izayoi was once again shocked, but this time not to the point of fainting, she just stared up into the dark night sky.

A small giggle pulled Touga out of his reverie as he turned his face towards the woman in his arms. "You know, we met, became one, and brought Inuyasha into this world all on the night of the full moon. It is only proper that we be brought back together on a night so significant to us."

He looked up to stare into the full moon's glow, "Ah, my mate is so smart, one of the many things I love about her. Now I believe you should get some sleep, I promise not to drop you." He smiled wistfully.

"Don't you think two hundred *yawn* years of sleep is enough?"

"Ah, but I wouldn't exactly call that sleep. Don't you want to be well rested in case we come across Inuyasha tomorrow?"

Skeptical looks crossed Izayoi's face, "Touga, I know your limits. If you truly wanted to find him tonight you would."

Touga's face became soft as he leaned down to be within centimeters of his mate. "But, that would mean I had less time to spend with you." He closed the space between them to share their first kiss of this ne chance at life. When he pulled away, he saw Izayoi's eyes drift shut, announcing her arrival in dreamland. _"Sleep well my mate, soon we will be a family again."_

_***Next Morning***_

The streaming sunlight flittering through the treetops was what awoke Izayoi the next morning. Sleep hazed eyes slowly opened to see birds flying overhead and wisps of smoke in the air. That was when a heavenly smell drifted into her nose, which she inhaled deeply and desperately, as if life depended on it. _"Oh that smells heavenly."_

Izayoi turned her head towards the source of that enticing aroma and opened her eyes fully to see Touga twirling some sort of meat over a fire. "That smells divine darling."

Touga turned to look at his mate with a smirk, "Well of course it should, I cooked it. It's boar meat, which if I remembered correctly, is your favorite." His question was answered by the rumbling of her stomach.

A blush dusted her cheeks at that noise from her body. Gradually she rose up to stroll her way to her mate and the delicious meat that awaited her. As she sat down, a slight sting at her neck caused her to smack her hand there to kill whatever it was. But when she brought her hand down, all that as on her palm was blood.

Suddenly, another smack sounded off from her right side, where Touga was. When he drew his had away from his neck, she saw something floating down from his neck and land on his open palm, only to then pop back into whatever had been it's original form.

"Master it really is you! Oh what a glorious day this is, to have you and your mate back in this land again! We must celebrate."

"Ah Myouga, let me guess you could tell by our blood right? What you wouldn't do for a free meal. Must not be any danger around since you are here." Touga glanced over at Izayoi and winked which made her giggle, for she too knew the ways of Myouga the flea.

"Ugh Mi'Lord, this noble servant would never do such a thing!"

_"Sure you wouldn't."_ "What brings you here Myouga? Can I not spend the morning in peace before I go off following Inuyasha again?"

"Oh, that wouldn't be wise, no not at all. He wouldn't believe you to be you Master, nor the Lady Izayoi his mother."

It was that last part that caused Izayoi to join in on the conversation, "What do you mean he wouldn't believe us? Did something happen while we were gone so for long?"

Myouga began to look nervous and started to sweat, "Well, what I mean is... is... uh..." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts when an idea struck him. "It would be easier to get him to, well, accept you if one of his friends was on your side, so to speak."

_"Just what is he trying to hide.. Hmm..." _Touga thought, "Just what do you propose we do then Myouga? You seem to know a lot more about how to handle this situation than we do."

"I believe your best bet would be to get Lady Kagome on your side, she has the most, shall I say 'leverage' against Inuyasha. She is with Inuyasha all of the time, so you would have to wait until she heads back to her home to be able to confront her."

As Touga was churning this information over in his mind, he removed some of the meat from the fire so that Izayoi could calm her rumbling stomach.

"It is settled then, we will continue tracking after Inuyasha after breakfast and wait until this Lady Kagome returns home to confront her."

A smirk came to Myouga's face as he eyed an tantalizingly good looking vein. "Speaking of breakfast..."

"Don't even think about it."

_"Oh well, such is the life of a flea."_

**_*Later*_**

About two hours after breakfast, they heard a commotion ahead of them. Touga used his youkai ability to hide their scents as they bent down to be hidden by the foliage. Together, the three travelers witnessed the fight between our miko and hanyou. All let out a sigh of relief when they convinced Kirara to not reveal them to the group. And they watched as the miko flew off towards what could only be thought of as her home.

Once the gang was out of the clearing, our travelers stepped forth.

"It is obvious that he inherited your temper beloved." Izayoi said as she looked towards up towards her mate. A snort was her only reply as Touga kept staring at where his youngest son had taken off to.

"Mi'Lord, I suggest you take on your true form so that you two will be able to keep up with Lady Kagome and get to talk to her before she returns to her homeland."

Touga turned to his shoulder with a quizzical look, "What do you mean by 'homeland'?"

Myouga gulped due to the fear of the secret he had almost spilled. "I believe that it isn't my place to tell you Master. Oh, I just remembered that I promised to help a friend today, I must be leaving now!" And within seconds, he was gone.

"Well, shall we be going my dearest? The sooner we talk to this woman, the faster we will be reunited with our son." Izayoi said kindly.

No response was given as Touga took her by the elbow and took off into the sky, transforming before he even reached the tops of the trees and taking off after the two-tailed cat.

_***Somewhere in the mysterious beyond***_

A woman sat looking into what to a normal person would be considered a bird bath. But to her, it was her gateway, a sort of looking glass if you will, to the outside world.

"Well part one of your plan is complete. What is the next step?" A gentle voice asked, as a man walked to the woman's side.

"Now we must bring together what was taken apart."

"But they are already piecing back together the jewel."

"There is something else that must be connected for this world to survive. We need skill."

"I don't understand." He replied as his bro furrowed.

The woman turned to face the person standing above her, "There are yet a few more major events that must take place for the world to be saved."

**A/N - Who could these mysterious people be? And what else needs to be brought together? Anyone have any guesses...**


	10. What Goes Up

**Curiosity - Chapter 10 - "What Goes Up"**

***With Kagome riding back to the well on Kirara***

_"Oh that Inuyasha he just makes me so mad! He says he doesn't remember but I know good and well that he does. I told him in advance so that he would be prepared AND I gave him a list of days that I had to go back. Grrrr, one day Inuyasha, one day,"_ "TO THE MOON!" Kagome silently fumed, while yelling that last part out loud my mistake.

Kirara turned her head and gave Kagome an incredulous look that said "you want me to take you where?"

"No, no Kirara! Ignore that, I was just venting out my anger about all the things that Inuyasha tried to pull. I don't want you to take me to the moon. Just go ahead and continue onto the please." Kagome said, shaking her head back and forth in the "no" fashion.

Kirara meowed in response as to respond "ok, whatever you say" and turned her head back to continue on their journey.

Meanwhile, Kagome took in the sights around her. It was always exciting to take a ride on Kirara, well, when your not in the middle of a battle that is. You got to see the countryside as few would see it. Beauty as far as the eye could see and forests that went on for miles.

Kagome's mind went from thinking about the wonderful view to the homework she had stashed away in her backpack. _"Let's see, I've got my two book reports, the thesis on man, all of my math homework, my sketchbook for art, the essay on dog packs for zoology, and... oh there is something I am forgetting! The herbal remedies essay, that's it! Good thing I know a person like Kaede or I would get an "F" on that paper for sure!"_

When Kagome was last in school, she had collected all of her work in advance, thanks to all of her helpful teachers. Apparently in her health class, the teacher had been teaching the class about natural and homemade remedies, that of course involved the usage of herbs in the medical field. So naturally one of her assignments had been to write a report about the uses of herbs for all different remedies. This assignment really made Kagome excited, for she knew that without a doubt she would ace this one, with the help of Kaede it is. As soon as she returned to the Feudal Era, she immediately enlisted the help of Kaede. Kagome even made Inuyasha stay an extra day in the village so that she could pick Kaede's brain for all she knew so that she could write her report while on the road.

_"I'll have to make sure to bring Kaede back something special from home for all the help she's given me. Hmm, I wonder if I got all of the information right. Maybe I should stop off at her hut before going home so she can read it to see if I wrote it ok. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."_

Kagome came out of her reverie and saw the Sacred Tree coming up ahead, signaling that they were almost to the well. "Kirara, could you drop me off at Kaede's instead? I need to have her go over something."

Her reply was a resounding roar from her feline companion and within minutes they were landing in front of Kaede's hut. Surprisingly, none of the villagers were scared that a neko youkai just landed in front of their village priestess hut. In fact, some of the villages even greeted them.

"Good day Lady Kagome! You too Kirara!" "Hello priestess!" "Welcome back Lady Kagome!"

Of course she replied back to them earnestly and then bid Kirara goodbye, with the promise of bringing her back some kitty treats for flying her back. And with one final pat, the two tailed cat made her way back to her mistress and the rest of the rag tag group.

Kagome was about to walk into Kaede's hut when a cold chill went down her spine that made her hair stand on end. She had this odd feeling that she was being watched. She glanced over her shoulder towards the woods to see if there was anything, even went as far as sending out her aura to see if she could sense anything. _"Huh, guess I'm just becoming paranoid." _But she was right, she was being watched. And not by two sets of eyes, but three.

With that Kagome made her way into the elder miko's hut. Upon entering she saw Kaede next to the fire pit mixing up some sort of concoction, most likely for a sick or injured villager.

"Good afternoon Kaede, how have you been?"

It was then that Kaede noticed the girl standing in her doorway. "Come in child and set a spell, I've been fine. Protecting and taking care of the village as ye know. What about you?"

Kagome removed her shoes and walked over to the fire pit to take a seat near Kaede, who had begun to make some tea for the two of them.

"Oh, I've been fine, so have the others. Tired and in need of a rest as always." She paused and took the tea Kaede offered and nodded her head in thanks. "The reason I stopped was to ask if you could please read my report that I asked you so many questions about. I wanted to make sure I got all of the facts right before I turned it in at school."

Kaede took a sip of her tea before putting it down and looking towards Kagome, "Aye, I will look over it. But ye will need to stir this potion for me while I do."

Setting down her own cup, Kagome pulled her bag over, unzipped the top, and pulled out her homework folder, which she immediately began searching through the endless papers for her essay. After about two minutes she finally found it and handed it to Kaede.

"My child, ye certainly have a lot of work from this school ye go to."

"Yeah, but that's only because a certain hanyou won't let me go back more so I wouldn't have all this work to do."

At that statement both of them laughed as Kaede started to read through the young miko's four page report.

When ten minutes had passed, Kagome finally got her papers back, and Kaede's potion was returned to her. "That was very well written Kagome. I am sure that ye teacher will be proud of the hard work ye put into it. Ye are a very smart girl."

Kagome glanced at Kaede with a look of appreciation, "Well, I did learn from the best you know."

A smile covered the old miko's face at that complement before she turned her attention back to her task at hand. Every once in a while she would glance at Kagome, only to see her trying to get her backpack into order. But this time when she looked up, she saw Kagome with one of her flat scrolls and odd writing brush. (Notebook and pen)

"What are ye doing child?"

"I'm writing a list so I can be sure to remember all of the supplies I need to get before coming back here again. Is there anything you need Kaede? You know, any special medical supplies or food."

A thoughtful looked crossed Kaede's face. "No child, not that I can think of at the moment. There are still plenty of supplies left from the last batch ye brought me."

She didn't even look up from her writing to answer Kaede, "Ok, but if you ever need anything just let me know. You do so much for us, it's only fair that we do something for you."

While Kaede answered, she mentally went over her list, _"Ok, Ramen and potato chips for Inuyasha, crayons and paper for Shippo, shampoos and wax for Sango, cola's and new brushes for Miroku, kitty treats for Kirara, and finally something special for Kaede. Yep, I think I've got everything listed. No wait, I forgot the all of the medical things. How could I have ever forgotten about those?" _

"Child that is unnecessary. I am a priestess and it is what I do."

Kagome smiled as she packed her list away in her bag, "I know Kaede, but it's only fair. You know, sometimes I feel that we impose on you way to much and I just feel the need to show all of our appreciation to you for all of the things you do."

A low chuckle answered her, "Ye have no reason to think like that child. This old woman is just happy to have some company every once in a while."

As Kaede finished speaking, the old yellow backpack was already on the young miko's shoulder as she began to head towards the door. "Well, if you think of something you need just tell Inuyasha. Knowing him he'll be after me to come back early anyway." She giggled out as she put on her shoes, "I guess I'll be going home now. Have a nice day Kaede!"

"I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere just yet Kagome."

Both miko's inside the hut turned to the direction of the door to see a person that neither expected to see.

**A/N - Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but this is where I wanted to stop at this particular time. Didn't think you wanted to hear every single detail about everything, it would only make it more complicated and redundant. Besides, if I didn't this chapter would be WAY too long. BUT, due to the shortness of this chapter, I WILL POST THE NEXT IN TWO DAYS!**

**Also, I know this is off topic, but I am trying to find some awesome songs to use for a dog drill team routine. (dog obedience set to music) Only thing is, the song has to be less than five (5) minutes and CANNOT contain any profanity/violent theme. **

**If you have any suggestions please comment/email/reply and let me know the Title and Artist!**


	11. Must Come Down

***This chapter is dedicated to all the writers out there who reviewed. I updated early just for you guys!***

**Curiosity - Chapter 11 - "Must Come Down"**

The two miko's inside the hut stared at the figure standing in Kaede's doorway. Neither of the parties spoke a word for a great while. And finally, Kagome had enough of the deafening silence,

"What do you mean I can't leave yet?"

The mysterious figure gave Kagome a cold stare, "Why must you ask such redundant questions? Are you so naive that you can't understand a simple statement? I mean that you cannot leave stupid girl."

A gasp answered the figure in the sentences wake. She was shocked that this person would stoop so low as to insult her intelligence.

While Kagome was still in shock, the person strolled past the shocked girl and took a seat close to the elder miko. (Uninvited of course) The person looked expectedly to Kaede, whom had already started to prepare tea for her "guest". "Child, why don't ye sit down so that you may be able to go home quicker?"

Snapped out of her shock by Kaede's voice, she hesitantly slipped her shoes back off and went to take a seat near the fire again, making sure to keep her distance from the this person. Yet another long silence began as the three occupants drank their tea. Kaede had had enough of it so she finally spoke up.

"What is it that ye want sister?"

Kikyo took another long sip of her tea before setting it down and focusing on Kagome. "I have a few questions that I need to ask my reincarnation."

Kagome got a puzzled look across her face, "What do you want to know? I mean, what would you ever want to know about me?"

"Humph, you ask too many questions girl. What I need to know involves certain things in your life."

The young priestess was starting to get mad at Kikyo for acting so Sesshomaru like. Plus she was getting annoyed at the was she kept staring at her. _"Oh if looks could kill I'd be dead by now. Wait, is that what she's trying to do? No, that can't be. Looks can't kill... can they? After all this is the Feudal Era."_

"I know you say I ask too many questions, but what in the world could you ever want to know about my life? And would you please stop looking at me like that? You are starting to give me the creeps."

Kikyo looked down at her hands with a sly grin while answering, "First of all, I will look at you however I wish. And you'll find out what I wish to know if you would just stop asking unnecessary." A pause was added after that for effect, and also to make Kagome upset. "Now, my first question is why do I feel your presence and then I don't. How are you hiding your presence from me?"

"I don't hide my presence from anything. I simply go home." The young miko replied confusedly.

"You're lying! Your presence can't simply disappear by just 'going home' as you put it. That's impossible!"

It was then that Kaede decided that she had had enough of her elder sister interrogating Kagome. "Ye are wrong sister, young Kagome speaks the truth."

"And I do not believe either of you!" Kikyo angrily spat back.

Another awkward silence entered the hut and lasted for quite a while. Finally, Kagome had had enough of it, "Well, if that's all you wanted then I really need to be getting home."

Kagome started to get up and leave when Kikyo began again. "I want for you to speak the truth. Why do you wear such revealing clothes?" She said incredulously why eyeing Kagome's school uniform. _"That is not the way a priestess should dress. It is undignified."_

Kagome eyed Kikyo as she was eyeing her mini skirt. _"Maybe that's why she keeps looking at me like that."_ "Well, since you have a problem with the way I dress let me just fix that for you." She spoke as she took some clothes out of her bag and made her way out of Kaede's hut so that she could walk into the woods and change.

Meanwhile, Kaede starting giving her sister what would be called in the future "the third degree."

"What is it ye wish to know about Kagome?"

"I wish to know why her presence leaves this world and then Inuyasha's a few days later. You wouldn't happen to know why do you?" Kikyo said as she eyed her now elderly sister.

A soft smile made its way across Kaede's face as she answered, "Aye, I know why. But I don't believe it is my place to tell ye anything."

Kikyo gave Kaede a smug look then turned to look at the entrance of her sister's hut where Kagome now stood. She was now wearing a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt that had her name written across the front of it. It also happened to be tight fitting, which made her show off her curves. This, of course, miffed Kikyo off again.

_"How can that girl wear such things in front of her elders?" _She looked at Kaede to gauge her reaction to this new clothing and only got miffed even more. Not only did her younger sister look like she didn't care, but she wasn't even paying attention to Kagome's clothing. Kaede just sat there sipping her tea. _"Kaede isn't even offended by a priestess wearing such clothing. But, then again, my reincarnation isn't much of a priestess to begin with."_

"So, is this any better for you?" Kagome asked as she made her way back to her bag to put her uniform away.

"Yes, it is better. But why does your... um... top have your name written on it?" She decided not to ask Kagome where she had gotten these strange clothes, since the ones from before (uniform) were even stranger.

Kagome thought for a moment of how to answer Kikyo's question. _"Ha, I've got it! That's perfect, and maybe it will even lighten up the atmosphere of the conversation. If one would call it that."_

Before she answered, Kagome took her seat back beside the fire. "Well my dear Kikyo," she said with a straight face while thinking 'not really' in the back of her mind. "My name is on my 'top', as you call it, that in case something happens to where I loose my memory I can simply look into a mirror or a river and read the word on my shirt backwards and know what my name is." Then she put a thoughtful looked on her face as she winked at Kaede to let her know that she was joking. "But then again, if I loose my memory I will most likely forget how to read, especially backwards. So I guess that would be a moot point now wouldn't it?" She looked at Kikyo with a look of amusement on her face, while Kikyo's face clearly stated 'I don't think that was funny.'

But on the bright side, Kagome did earn a chuckle out of Kaede. "Well, at least you thought it was funny." Kagome laughed out.

Kikyo shot Kagome a dirty look and continued on with her questioning. "Why is it that Inuyasha's presence leaves a few days after yours? And why do you both disappear around the area of the well?"

Suddenly, Kagome became very interested in her hands as she replied, "He tries to come and get me a day before I said that I would come back because he wants to hurry up and complete the jewel and destroy Naraku. As for your second question, that is because I live near the well."

Sips of tea were taken by all as Kikyo considered her next question. "Where exactly do you live? And give me a straight answer!" She demanded.

"Well technically I live by the well, with my family at a shrine."

"You're lying; there is no shrine around that well. Now I won't ask you again, where do you live?"

Kikyo was really starting to get mad at her copy. Why wouldn't she just answer the questions? What has she got to hide? _"If only she knew how much I actually do know about her. All I want is for her to admit it."_

Kagome was already nervous, but she steeled herself as she looked to Kaede, and then to her former self. "I won't tell you." She said firmly.

"Why not?"

"How do I know that you won't tell Naraku afterwards? I mean you did give him the whole half of the jewel we had AFTER you stole it from me."

This intrigued Kaede, "What do ye mean Kagome?" She didn't understand what Kagome had meant by her last accusation.

"Kikyo tried to kill me around the time that Sango joined, but before she tried she took the half of the jewel we had collected. She gave it to Naraku to 'supposedly' help in his demise. So how do I know that if I tell her where I live that she won't just go tell Naraku and then he would destroy the... my home." Kagome chose her last words carefully, not wanting to reveal her secret about the well.

Kaede then looked at her sister, "Is this true?"

"Yes and giving Naraku the jewel WILL help." Kikyo practically yelled.

Kagome had gotten tired of this; she really needed to go study. "Yeah right. Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to get home. See you later Kaede." She spoke as she grabbed her bag once again and headed towards the door.

She was leaving in such a huff that she didn't notice Kikyo muttering something under her breath, nor the sudden glimmer at the side of Kaede's door. But Kaede did notice and knew exactly what Kikyo was doing.

"Child don't!" She yelled, but it was to late.

**A/N - Hmmm... what did Kikyo do this time? And why was she trying to pump Kagome for all that information? Does Kikyo know something that Kagome doesn't... or does? Who knows?**

**Next chapter will be up in one or two weeks!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	12. Will All The Dead Please Rise?

**Curiosity - Chapter 12 - "Will All The Dead Please Rise?"**

Kaede's warning came all too late to help Kagome any. Oh if only she or the young miko had noticed the sutra on the doorframe sooner, none of this would be happening. Kaede was sure that the tension in the air was only going to thicken with this new development.

As Kagome placed her left foot just on the inside of the entrance of the hut and pushed her upper body forward to make her exit when all of a sudden sparks flew throughout the air and a great scream was let forth. Next thing everyone knew, Kagome was on the other side of the hut, slumped against the wall and breathing heavily, like she had just run five miles straight without any kind of break.

A heated glare was pointed towards Kikyo as the elderly miko got up to check on Kagome. When she got to her side Kagome still hadn't moved from her spot. "Child, are ye alright? Are you in any pain?" Surely Kagome must have felt some sort of pain after flying through the air and being hurled into a wall. It surprised Kaede that the wall of her hut didn't break under the force that Kagome was slammed into it with.

A semi-pained moan was her reply. "I'll get ye some herbs to take away the pain." Making her way over to the shelves full of various herbs and potions, Kaede's eye scanned the many jars before finally landing on the one that would take away pain. When she began reaching for the jar, a hand gripped her wrist to stop her movements. She turned her head to the right to see none other than Kikyo with Kaede's wrist tightly in her grasp.

"You will not help my reincarnation. She has done nothing this day to deserve any sort of kindness."

Her single eye widened in shock, "Ye mean to say that you would let Kagome suffer just because she refused to answer you questions? Ye know as well as I do that being a miko means that you have to help people. I will not let Kagome suffer because you wish to pry answers out of her."

Kikyo clutched her wrist tighter to the point where Kaede winced at the pressure. "As your elder sister you will do as I say. Blood is thicker than the bonds of friendship. If I have to I will seal you outside of this hut so that you will not interfere with my doings. Would you like that?"

Kaede looked towards Kagome who seemed to be regaining some sort of consciousness. _"I might be Kagome's only chance to get out of this hut since Kikyo is my sister, so I'll have some sort of advantage. I still don't understand why she is asking so many questions about Kagome's home. Could she possibly be gathering information for Naraku as Kagome said?"_

Her arm being jerked brought Kaede out of her reverie. "Well, what is your answer Kaede? Will you leave her be or choose to help her and force me to seal you out of this hut?"

Glancing at Kagome one last time she turned back towards her sister to give her decision, _"Forgive me child."_ "Aye sister, I will leave her be, but ye will not deny me to examining her to make sure she doesn't need bandaged."

With that said Kaede wretched her wrist from her elder sister and made her way back to Kagome's side and began to examine the back of her head. Her touch apparently was bringing Kagome back around for she started moaning painfully a bit more frequently, but not louder to indicate that she was in any more pain than Kaede thought. _"I would still like to give Kagome some herbs though, but I guess that isn't going to happen."_

While Kaede was checking the rest of Kagome's body for cuts and broken bones, Kagome was slowly becoming aware of the world around her. _"Ugh, what happened? I was heading out of Kaede's hut when I felt a jolt... like I was electrocuted. But how could that be? Electricity won't be invented for another three hundred years at most. Oh boy does my body hurt."_

Chocolate eyes opened up slowly to see Kaede examining her arm, which felt horrible might I add. Kagome closed her eyes again and took a deep breath, "Did anyone get the number of that truck?" She asked, still not fully aware of her surroundings.

The old miko's head jolted up to look at Kagome who was looking back at her with her eyes partially opened. "Child, I don't know what this 'truck' is, but you weren't hit by one if that is what you mean."

"Oh, well then what did happen? Did a demon attack? Are you alright Kaede?" Kagome asked becoming hysterical.

Lightly laughing at the worrying young miko Kaede relayed the past few minutes. "I am perfectly fine and a demon did not attack. My sister wouldn't just let you walk out on her questioning. Apparently when neither of us was looking she placed a sutra beside my door that when activated will keep the person she chooses, be they human or youkai, inside my hut until she decides to let you go. The sutra became active as you were leaving the hut due to Kikyo saying the incantation which in turn made you fly into the wall of my hut. I am sorry I didn't realize it was there before you left. Do ye feel any better Kagome?"

Kagome placed her hand to her forehead, "Well, I can feel my limbs again. I was numb for awhile there, but my head is still pounding, that's what hit the wall first. And did I hear you right when you said I couldn't get through the door?"

"You will not be leaving this hut until you tell me where you go when you leave for your home and your reasoning for tugging on my partial piece of soul!" Kikyo practically bellowed to her reincarnation.

Kagome just stared at Kikyo before gradually standing up and stepping over to stand in front of her, leaving Kaede sitting by the wall, only to watch the blowup that was about to take place.

"What do you mean 'I won't be leaving'? You have no right to keep me here!"

"Oh but I do. That is my soul inside of you which means it is mine to do with as I please!"

"No you don't! This is my soul not yours! And you can't tell me what to do; you are not in charge of me." Kagome fumed.

Kikyo's eyes narrowed as she looked the young miko straight in the eyes and spoke lowly, "It doesn't matter, and you will not leave this hut until I get some answers."

"How can you even do that! I thought miko's were supposed to help people, not hold them someplace against their will! I have to go home Kikyo, there are things I have to do, tests I have... I mean duties I must complete." Darn Kagome and her stupid slips of the tongue. _"If I keep going I'll be telling her everything without even realizing it. Me and my big mouth!"_

"This is the last time I will repeat myself so listen closely. You will not be leaving this hut until I get some answers OR you take me to your home. Understand?"

From the hard look on Kikyo's face, Kagome could tell she meant every word. So instead of answering her, she walked back over to her bag and pulled out her text books, intent on studying until Inuyasha came to knock some sense into Kikyo's brain, or what was left of it.

Sitting back down where she had slammed into the wall, she began to work out the problems in her math book. Kaede sat by her side watching her as she tried to make heads or tails out of all the strange symbols. Before getting up, Kaede placed a knurled hand on Kagome's shoulder, "I am sorry child, and I would take the sutra off if I could. Hopefully my sister will come to her senses and let you go home to complete your... 'duties' before it is too late."

Kagome turned and smiled at Kaede, "It's ok, at least your hut is quiet. With any luck I'll be able to get a lot of reading done so that I'll be able to do well in school."

Suddenly, the weight of the text books disappeared from her lap, only to see them floating in front of her in some sort of transparent pink bag. With widened eyes, Kagome turned to glance up at Kikyo through her ebony bangs, looking for an answer.

With a smirk on her face, Kikyo used her priestess abilities to raise Kagome's books to the rafters and let them hang there. "As long as you avoid answering questions, you will spend just as long not reading these strange varieties of scrolls." Kikyo's gaze turned to a 'scroll' that she missed which she promptly bent down and picked it up. The front cover was written in Japanese, _"What is this 'In-glee-ish'?"_ She wondered. Flipping open the book, Kikyo's eyes widened as she gazed upon the strange writing written on the pages and she instantly became infuriated with the thoughts running through her mind.

"Sister, what is it that has angered you?"

Narrowed eyes turned to gaze upon Kaede before turning to Kagome with an accusing look, "This girl is not a priestess. She is a WITCH!"

"How dare you condemn me of such an act! What ever gave you such an idea?" Kagome gasped out.

Kikyo thrust the book out in front of her. "This proves it! Why else would you have such strange scrolls? Plus the inside bears no words, only odd shapes, so this must be filled with all of your spells!"

The one thing Kikyo didn't expect was for both Kagome AND Kaede to start laughing at her. What was so funny? She had just proven that her so called reincarnation was a witch, this was no laughing matter.

After a few moments both miko's calmed down enough to where they could speak. "Kikyo you've got it all wrong. That is not filled with spells and hexes, that strange writing as you call it is a different language called 'English' and I am studying it so that I can learn."

"Nonsense, how do I know that you aren't casting curses on innocent villagers using this language? Well I know a way to keep you from doing that." With that, Kikyo thrust the book into the fire. Kagome immediately tried to go pull it away from the flames, but Kikyo summoned her soul collectors to hold her back.

Turning away and walking towards the door, Kikyo left one parting message. "I suggest you start thinking about answering my questions, else you be stuck in this hut for a very long time."

_***Later***_

Eight hours. That was how long Kagome had been sitting in Kaede's hut. Eight long hours of being alone, only starring at walls. Ever since Kikyo had left the hut, Kaede had been called to pretty much every nook and cranny of the village, which was most likely Kikyo's doing in attempt to get Kagome to crack under the so called "pressure." Moments ago, a very frazzled looking Kaede finally made her way back into her hut and began to prepare stew for dinner. Kagome immediately took over the preparation of dinner when she saw Kaede almost fall asleep twice while stirring the stew and almost falling into the fire.

Half an hour later the stew was ready and both miko's ate in silence until a knock was heard. Kaede got up to see who it was so early in the evening, "Aye, may I help you?" Before Kaede stood a beautiful woman, with waist length ebony hair and beautiful brown eyes, she looked as if she was a princess of some sort.

"Yes Priestess, I was told that I could find Priestess Kagome here. She is known far and wide for not being prejudice to demons and I would like to enlist her help with one who is a... friend, if she would allow."

Kagome answered without even looking up from her stew, "Yes I will help in any way I can."

"Alright, if you will please excuse me for a moment I will go and get my friend." The woman bowed and quickly made her way back towards the forest to get the demon. Only one minute went by before the woman and the demon were back in front of the hut and being ushered in by the elderly miko.

They saw Kagome wiping her mouth before standing up and finally taking a look at them. "Now, what is it that I can help..." Her sentence was stopped short as she took in the two people standing before her, her eyes widening even more with every second that ticked by.

Kaede didn't understand why Kagome was acting in such a way. "Child what is it? What is wrong?"

"It can't be. It just can't be." She whispered.

"What are you talking about child?"

The young miko took a step forward towards the human and demon. "Who are you two? And what do you want with me?"

It was the demon that spoke on their behalf, "My name is Touga, former Dog Demon Lord of the Western Lands, and this is my mate Izayoi. We wish for you to help us with re..." He stopped short, for Kagome cut him off.

"NO! You're lying. What is this, another lame attempt at getting Tessaiga? One parent didn't work last time so now he's trying two? My gosh, I didn't think he would stoop so low as to try this stunt again!"

"I assure you we are truly alive and that we are not lying. All we wish is for your help in meeting our son again peacefully. And what do you mean by 'last time'?" Izayoi asked intrigued.

Kagome took a deep breath before answering, "About a week after I met Inuyasha, a carriage was flying through the sky one night. A woman was chained up inside and I heard him utter one word, 'mother' before he took off to try and see if she was the real deal. Long story short, it turned out to be an Un-Mother who was helping with trying to steal the Tessaiga. If I hadn't been there Inuyasha would have been killed by the Un-Mother that night because of that demon's foolish actions." Boy was she fuming now.

"Child, what does that have to do with Lord Touga and Lady Izayoi?"

"How do I know that he didn't just go and, pardon the expression, dig up another Un-Mother and now an Un-Father to try and fool Inuyasha again into relinquishing the Tessaiga?"

Touga took the chance during her pause to pose a question in his quickly rising anger. "From how you speak this has happened multiple times. Who has tried to take Inuyasha's birthright from him?"

Kagome didn't hear him though, she just continued her ranting while pacing back and forth, waving her hands in a wild manner. "I mean, I know he can be crude at times, but to attempt using the same idea twice how idiotic is that? That demon cannot be that stupid!"

Suddenly a gust of air flew through the hut, blowing hair and billowing kimonos every which way, and for the second time that day, Kagome found herself slammed into a wall. Only this time, she didn't collapse into a heap like last time, she was kept suspended to the was by a recurring pressure on her neck.

* * *

**A/N - This chapter is dedicated to all of my WONDERFUL reviewers and readers! Thanks so much to all of you!**


	13. Getting Acquainted Well, Sort Of

**Curiosity - Chapter 13 - "Getting Acquainted... Well, Sort Of."**

Silence engulfed the small hut for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. All stared at the girl who had just moments ago, been slammed into a wall yet again.

Cold eyes stared into the fearless brown eyes of Kagome, who was at the moment standing her ground, so to speak. _"I will not back down. I have to get to the bottom of this!"_

Suddenly she felt the pressure on her neck tighten, as if to bring her wondering mind back to her attacker. "What do you want now?" She choked out.

"I was wondering when you would decide to make your appearance. Did you not think that I would feel you following us all the way here? I may have been dead for two hundred years, but that doesn't mean that my senses have dulled any." Spoke an angry Touga. "Now I wish to know of all these attempts at taking Inuyasha's birthright Kagome spoke of. Is all of it true?"

He then felt Izayoi touch his arm and he turned to look down at her, "Darling, I think we should worry about freeing Kagome of his hold first rather than hearing of his attempts don't you? I wouldn't want our son mad at us for letting this lovely girl die at Sesshomaru's hand."

"Right as always my mate. Sesshomaru, release her this instant."

Sesshomaru didn't even respond to his father, he only kept looking at the young miko in his clutches. "Human, you dare to call this Sesshomaru 'stupid' and 'idiotic'? This Sesshomaru will not tolerate such things being said and for that you must die. No one shall disrespect this Sesshomaru in such a way." With that he tightened his hold on the miko one more.

Kagome was hardly breathing now; she brought up both of her hands to clutch the demon Lord's wrist in a feeble endeavor o remove his hand from her neck. Knowing this wouldn't work in the long run, Kagome narrowed her eyes and daringly choked out, "I am not... not... afraid of you." And then her hands began to glow faintly, whether consciously or not no one knew.

As Kagome began to fall into the darkness, the glowing only became brighter and that was when Izayoi noticed it. She tugged on her mates sleeve while looking desperately in Sesshomaru's direction. Izayoi knew that her mate's eldest son didn't exactly like humans, but the last thing she wanted was for him to die just when he had the chance to be with his father again.

Seconds went by and Touga didn't respond to her tugs, only looked on towards the young miko, who was staying conscious only by a thread. Finally she grabbed a hold of his ear and jerked him down to her, "If you don't hurry and physically remove your son from that girl he will be inadvertently purified!" She whispered harshly.

A quiet chuckle was her answer, which only infuriated her more. "Mate, Sesshomaru is strong enough to withstand being purified, we have nothing to worry about."

"Aye, you may be right. But if ye truly wish to be reunited with Inuyasha ye will stop yonder Lord before he kills Kagome, else you wish to face his wrath and that of their group. If ye really are the boy's parents come back from the dead only Kagome will be able to convince him. She is the only one he trust completely, even more so than my sister." Input the elderly miko.

With the thought of not being brought back together with his son without the help of this woman, Touga quickly made his way to his eldest side and placed a firm hand on his wrist. "Sesshomaru, you will release this woman now." He murmured.

Hard amber eyes turned to gaze at the man next to him, contemplating whether or not to follow through with the request. "Hn, this Sesshomaru does not show mercy to any human. She cannot be allowed to say such things and not be punished."

"You will release her this instant. Do not make me show my status in this pack to you."

Growling could then be heard coming from the current Western Lord and his hand began to spark green with his poison as he started to add his claws into the mix of things, defying his father even further. No one could tell him what to do; he was the Lord of the West! He can do anything he wanted because of his title.

Just as he was about to deal the final blow and end this miko's existence, everyone's attention was turned to the entrance of the hut.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Where are you?"

All eyes were on the small girl wearing the orange and yellow kimono standing at Kaede's door, while the child's eyes were staring at Sesshomaru and the body he was holding against the wall.

"My Lord what are you doing?" She asked as she walked towards the towering dog demon, ignoring the questioning looks from the other adults. Wide eyes filled with curiosity that only a child would have starred up at the fearsome Western Lord and then to the young miko pinned against the wall, still barely clinging onto reality. She instantly saw the green surrounding his nails and turned back to her Lord.

"Lord Sesshomaru are you going to hurt Lady Kagome? She didn't do anything wrong did she?" The young girl received no reply and looked back to Kagome then again to Sesshomaru with pleading eyes, "If you hurt her then Rin will be sad. Rin doesn't like to see people die; Rin has seen so many die already." She said as she hung her head low.

Silence clung throughout the hut while all the occupants stared at the seemingly human child until they heard a resounding thump, at which everyone glanced towards the sound and saw Kagome once again upon the floor, taking in big gulps of air.

But everyone turned to the child once again when she began to cry out, "Thank you Lord Sesshomaru! Rin is happy now!" She smiled up at him while hugging his leg. A few moments later she realized someone was looking at her, that was when she noticed Touga bent down to her level in front of her.

"Hello, what is your name and how do you know my son?"

Rin let go of Sesshomaru and pointed to herself, "I am Rin and Lord Sesshomaru saved me a long time ago from wolves. Who are you?" Then she cocked her head to the side and gazed up at Sesshomaru, "You have a papa? Why don't we ever visit him?" She asked curiously while both Touga and Izayoi were both trying to contain their laughter.

"Well my name is Touga, and yes he does have a papa, everyone does. But I have been away for a long while; perhaps now that I am back you can visit." He told Rin as he was standing back up, only to look at Sesshomaru.

"Don't give humans mercy huh?" Touga said under his breath so that only his son could hear.

"This Sesshomaru doesn't have to explain himself to you. Let us go Rin." He responded as he walked past everyone and out of the hut. Rin knew of course that they were heading back to the castle and skipped off after him, but not before turning back to the occupants of the hut.

"I am glad that I got to meet Lord Sesshomaru's papa! I can't wait to visit you again, bye!" And with that, she skipped back outside towards Ah-Un, got on him and followed diligently after her Lord.

_"Well that certainly was odd. He never did like humans, so what in the world made him open up to that little girl? I just don't understand why he believes he is superior to all humans when none of them did anything to him. Maybe Kagome knows what happened, or perhaps Inuyasha."_ Izayoi thought forlornly.

Their attention was instantly back onto Kagome who was at the moment was standing up, while leaning heavily against the wall, and trying to make her was over to supposedly Inuyasha's parents. Before she even took a step Kaede was there and making her sit back down on the wooden floor.

"Nay child, stay there and rest, ye have been through enough today." Then Kaede turned to look at the regal dog demon. "May I suggest we start over, perhaps hear how ye came to be alive again?"

"How who is alive again?" Kikyo asked from the doorway. She scanned the room, eyeing her sister, her reincarnation, and then the young woman who appeared to be a princess.

_"She must be the one who was supposedly brought back to life. But it isn't Urasue's work; I would be able to sense dark magic throughout her aura if it was. Her aura is completely clean, how curious."_

Her eyes finally came across the dog demon. Kikyo settled on him for a while, just taking in his form, knowing that he looked familiar but couldn't exactly place who he was. Finally, it clicked in her clay head who he was and she was once again angered.

"So you have finally given into your beast have you? I knew it was only a matter of time. Now the question is how you did you do it, Inuyasha?" She questioned as her eyes landed back on Izayoi, "And who are you?"

A giggle made her turn to Kagome, "My goodness Kikyo you seem to be misconstruing a lot of things today. That isn't Inuyasha. If you would have gone over his aura with your powers you could have found that out. Even if he did become a full demon he would have still held his demonic aura he has as a half demon."

"Young Kagome is correct; I am Touga, former Dog Demon Lord of the Western Lands. I am Inuyasha's father. The beautiful creature standing to your right is Izayoi, Inuyasha's mother and my mate."

Kikyo was only what they would describe as "speechless" for several seconds before Kaede finally broke the seemingly never ending silence.

"Why don't we take a seat around the fire so that ye may tell us your tale?"

Touga glanced back towards his mate and silently beckoned her to come and sit by him near the fire. Once they were all seated around the roaring fire, each with a cup of steaming hot tea, Touga and Izayoi began to spin their tale, but not before they knew the name of their hostess.

"May I ask your name Priestess?" Inquired Izayoi

"Aye, I am the Priestess Kaede, younger sister to Kikyo." She answered while handing Izayoi her tea. As she pulled her hand away to grab hold of her own cup, Kaede's knurled hand was intercepted by a clawed one. She looked up at him with a wondering eye as Touga brought the back side of her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently.

When he removed his lips he still kept a hold of her hand and gazed at her with an admiration.

"Une telle belle prêtresse."

Kagome nearly choked on her tea when she heard this. She turned to stare at Touga, who had finally let go of Kaede's hand, while Kaede herself looked puzzled as she was trying to figure out what Touga had just said to her.

"Pouvez-vous parler français?" (Can you speak French?) Kagome asked excitedly.

The demon turned to her with wide eyes, before answering.

"Oui je peux." (Yes I can.)

"C'est merveilleux! Où avez-vous appris?" (That's marvelous! Where did you learn?)

Touga gave her a small smile before replying. He was certainly intrigued by this girl, not many demons and even fewer humans in this time knew how to speak a foreign language.

"Je vous remercie. Une des choses qui doit être appris à être un Seigneur est de savoir comment parlent des langues différentes. Française vient de se passer d'être l'un d'entre eux."

(Thank you. One of the many things that have to be learned to be a Lord is how to speak different languages. French just happened to be one of them.)

"Vous voulez dire, il y avait des Français au Japon à cette époque? C'est impossible, personne n'a vraiment navigué près du Japon à l'époque." Kagome asked curiously.

(You mean there were French people in Japan at that time? That's impossible; nobody really sailed near Japan back then.)

"Vous avez raison à ce sujet, mais il y avait une vie de clan chien démon en France à l'époque. Cousins de la nôtre en fait, et tout ce qu'ils pouvaient parler le français. Maintenant, qui vous a appris? Habituellement les humains n'ont pas besoin d'une langue seconde."

(You are correct about that, but there was a dog demon clan living in France at the time. Cousins of ours actually, and all they could speak was French. Now who taught you? Usually humans have no need for a second language.)

Kagome's face flushed a bit at remembering the reason she had been taught before she answered. "Ma grand-tante m'a appris après son retour d'un voyage à Paris. Elle a dit que ..."

(My Great Aunt taught me after she came back from a trip to Paris. She said that...)

Before she could even finish her explanation, a slap resounded throughout the room and Kagome raised a hand to her now stinging cheek.

"I knew it. You have fooled everyone around you, but you will not fool me. You will stop casting spells this instant witch or you will die at my hand." Kikyo said through clenched teeth, as she raised her hand to slap Kagome again, but was stopped by Izayoi grabbing the back of her kimono and holding her back.

"Priestess you have it all wrong, we were not casting spells if that is what you were thinking. The girl and I were speaking a different language called French, which I must say she is very fluent in and I condone her for that." Touga explained and praised.

Kagome gave a small appreciative smile towards the dog demon as Kaede talked to her sister again.

"Sister, I know of the many things that we were taught to be prejudice of as priestess's, but one of those things was not witches. Or did you forget about our grandmother, hm?" Kaede asked with a knowing smirk.

Kikyo was quiet for a few moments before getting up and leaving. But before she left, she looked to the dog demon one more time. "If you weren't casting spells, then what was it you said to my sister after you kissed her hand?"

Touga didn't even bother to turn around and face her, "I told her that she was a very beautiful priestess."

Kaede's head jerked up at that, cheeks covered in a deep red blush and her eye wide. _"He must be daft to call this old woman beautiful. I didn't even consider myself that pretty as a young woman; no one did, except him. Oh how I miss him."_ Kaede began to get lost in memories past, but was pulled back out when her two guests began to explain their tale.

After about an hour Kagome and Kaede knew how both had come back to the living realm, minus the private parts of course. It was then that Kaede declared that it was time for bed. She went to the corner of her hut and pulled out two extra sleeping mats for Izayoi and Touga, she didn't get one for Kagome for she knew the young miko had her strange sleeping mat from the future.

Within minutes Izayoi and Kaede were asleep and only the young miko and the dog demon were left awake at the late hour. Touga starred at Kagome from his spot against the wall. He found it odd that the miko didn't ready herself for bed.

Kagome knew he was looking at her for she was looking at him out of the corner of her eye as well. _"I guess that is one trait that Inuyasha inherited from his father, sleeping against the wall. Both want to be ready for any attack that could happen during the night."_

"Why aren't you going to bed? You must be tired."

She looked over to Touga and gave him a look of appreciation for thinking about her. "No offense to you or Lady Izayoi, but I can't help but thinking that you two might not be who you say you are. Or that perhaps you're here to kidnap me on Sesshomaru's behalf to aid him in another attempt at getting Tetsaiga. I just want to be careful for right now, so I will be staying up tonight simply to watch my back. I don't think that Inuyasha would like it if I got into anymore trouble, he'll be mad enough when he finds out about the whole Sesshomaru incident."

He completely understood where the young miko was coming from. If he were in her shoes, he would be wary of them as well.

"Then I wish you a good night Lady Kagome."

Kagome took a sip of her tea before answering. "A good night to you to as well Lord Touga. And please, just call me Kagome; I'm not much of a miko anyways." 

* * *

**A/N - Sorry for the lateness in updating. Had a very hectic start to the week and I didn't have time to write anything. But I made it extra long to make up for it!**

**Who could Kaede be thinking about from her past? And what did their grandmother have to do with anything? Any guesses? **

**PLEASE COMMENT AND REVIEW - FLAMES WELCOMED!**


	14. What Could It Mean?

**Curiosity - Chapter 14 - "What Could It Mean?"**

Just as Kagome said, she stayed up the entire night due to her thought that maybe the two people claiming to be Inuyasha's parents were just ploys sent by Sesshomaru to kidnap Kagome in another futile attempt at getting Tetsaiga. But then again, if these two were for real, then Inuyasha had the chance of having a family, which in Kagome's opinion was a wonderful thing. She considered it a once in a lifetime opportunity for him if they truly had come back from the dead, one that he should be eternally grateful for.

Morning came all too soon for Kagome, she still hadn't figured out how in the world she was going to handle the situation between her and Kikyo, now add to that the fact that Lord Touga and Lady Izayoi have returned from the great beyond, ugh, she didn't even want to think of what kind of yelling she was in for from Inuyasha for getting herself into this mess. She honestly began to think that there was a giant magnet on her back and it specifically attracted all sorts of trouble wherever she went.

It was then she noticed that Kaede hadn't woken up yet. Usually she was up with the roosters preparing breakfast and getting various herbal remedies ready for the day.

_"I guess Kikyo's idea of keeping her occupied all day yesterday out in the village really wore her out. I'll let her sleep in as long as she wants, she deserves it."_

Kagome decided that she would cook breakfast for everyone; at least then Kaede would have one less thing to do for the day. She started by adding some more firewood to the pit to get the fire going again and then going to the corner to grab the pot to set over the fire so it could start heating up. Kagome then busied herself with chopping the vegetables that would go into the stew, but she was startled when she heard a voice coming from her left.

"Nnn... Hiro, come back. Hiro, please..." Kaede mumbled in her sleep.

_"Hiro? I wonder who that could be."_ Kagome wondered curiously as she went back to chopping the vegetables.

About ten minutes later the wonderful smell of stew permeated the air, teasing everyone noses with its tantalizing smell, drawing them out of the land of nod.

Touga was of course the first to wake followed by Izayoi, "Mmmm, that smells wonderful Lady Kagome. I can't wait to have a taste." Izayoi complemented as she stretched the kinks out of her back before turning to look at her mate. "Good morning beloved." She said cupping his cheek with her hand.

A clawed hand came to rest on top of Izayoi's dainty one as amber eyes stared lovingly into her own. "And a good morning to you my mate." Touga greeted back while taking hold of her other hand and pulling Izayoi into his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly before gently kissing her.

Kagome returned her gaze to the stew in front of her, a light blush covering her features because of the scene she just witnessed. _"Oh if only someone would love me like that, it would be absolutely wonderful."_

She was startled out of her reverie by a voice off to her side, "Thank ye for making breakfast Kagome, and for allowing me the extra sleep. I needed it after yesterday." Kaede said while handing Kagome the bowls for the stew.

Dipping the stew over into the bowls, a small smile made its way onto Kagome's face, "Oh it was nothing Kaede. I was positive that you would need the extra sleep with how late we were up last night."

Kaede was passing each bowl around as Kagome filled them, but when she came to the last bowl she paused, a thought crossing her mind.

"Lord Touga, pardon me if I'm out of line, but do you eat human food?"

He looked up at the young girl curiously, "Yes I do. Why? And please don't call me 'Lord', after all I'm not much of one anyway" Touga said as he winked at her.

Kagome smiled as she filled the last bowl and handed it to him, thinking it was funny that he used her excuse against her, "I just didn't wish to make you eat something that you don't like. Plus I know that Sesshomaru absolutely won't eat any sort of human food."

Touga ate a spoonful of stew before replying. "I thank you for your consideration Kagome. But unlike my eldest son, I have no trepidation against humans. In addition, I find human food more tantalizing than most of the demon food I have eaten in my life."

"My beloved is tired of demon food because of all of my good cooking he has eaten." Izayoi lightly giggled out.

Everyone ate their breakfast in comfortable silence that is until Touga grunted.

"Is there something wrong darling?" Izayoi asked concerned.

Touga grunted again as if in pain before answering. "Yes, that incessant whining noise is hurting my ears. It keeps stopping itself then it starts back up again."

Everyone was quiet then, all of them attempting to hear the mysterious sound that Touga had described. Kagome tilted her head a bit when she finally heard the noise, which for some reason sounded oddly familiar to her.

_"Wait a minute, I know what that is! Grrr... Inuyasha when you get back we are going to have a nice talk about this."_

Immediately Kagome got up from her place by Kaede, walked towards the back of the hut, and started tapping each floor board lightly with her foot.

"Child what are you doing?"

Kaede's question was ignored due to Kagome concentrating so hard. After tapping for five minutes, she finally heard the hollow sound she was listening for near the back right wall. This coincidentally was where Inuyasha normally slept. She then got down on her knees and began to pry up the board, which was thankfully already loose.

Setting the board aside, she finally took her first look into the hole she had just revealed, eyes widening, she knew the hanyou had taken some of her things, but she had no idea that Inuyasha had taken this many. First thing first though, she could go over all of these things later. Running her eyes through the treasure trove, Kagome finally located the source of the noise and immediately picked it up and removed the battery.

"Is the noise gone now?" Kagome asked looking at Touga.

A curt nod was her answer, "What is that... thing?" He questioned hesitantly, not sure of what to call the small object in the young miko's hands.

Before answering, Kagome made her way back over to the fire, but not until she grabbed a new battery and her earbuds from Inuyasha's "treasure trove" as she called it. "This is called an MP3 player; it plays different kinds of music. The reason it beeped was because the battery died." At the quizzical looks she received, she explained it better in what she called "feudal lingo" so that they could understand. "Its energy source ran out so it made that noise to tell me that I needed to renew its energy. I guess it was accidentally turned on when Inuyasha took it which in turn made it loose its energy since it was on the whole time."

Izayoi was surprised at that last sentence, her little boy knew better than to steal things from others. _"Well, he isn't so little anymore."_ She thought forlornly. Just as she was about to ask what Kagome had meant Kaede spoke up for her.

"What do ye mean? Why would he want to take such a thing?"

"And since no human or demon could fit into such a small object, how does it play music?" The great demon added, tipping his head curiously in a very dog-like way.

Giggling lightly, Kagome replaced the battery and plugged in her ear buds before answering. "Before I answer your questions Kaede, I believe it would be beneficial to answer Touga's first that way you could all know the reason behind him taking it in the first place.

She paused before going into her explanation. "I don't know how to explain the way it plays music in a way you could completely understand, but I'll try. You see, where I am from we have a device that records music so that you can listen to it later without having to have an actual band assemble and such. Then you can take the recorded music and store it in this little thing called an MP3 player that way you can play music whenever you want. You just put these little things in your ears and the music comes out. Here, if I turn the volume up you can hear it without putting in the earbuds."

With that she turned up the volume so they could partially hear some of her current favorite song. After about a minute she turned it off and answered the other question.

"As far as why Inuyasha took it, it was most likely because I was listening to my favorite song so much. See I was back home for a break and I couldn't get this song called 'Hey Soul Sister' out of my head so I kept playing it over and over which apparently annoyed him. I was playing it on another device so I could hear it all through my family's house and I didn't know he was outside basically spying on me and I guess after a while he got tired of it so he came in my house and smashed it." Kagome explained nervously, hoping that she didn't give his parents the wrong impression. "But he didn't know I had this little thing and when I started playing it on this he decided to go wait in the Feudal... I mean back here." Darn Kagome and her almost slip ups!

Touga looked at her strangely for a moment, noticing her slip of the tongue. _"I wonder what she is hiding."_

When there were no more questions asked, Izayoi and Touga decided to take a long walk, just the two of them, while Kaede had to go and tend to her herb garden as always. This left Kagome alone in the hut since Kikyo hadn't come back since the night before. Trying to figure out what she could do seeing as her textbooks were still hanging from the rafters, Kagome spied the Inuyasha's treasure trove and figured she might as well take inventory of the things her took.

Within the hour that she was alone, she discovered that Inuyasha had taken three alarm clocks, six cans of Red Bull,, her cell phone, some socks, (which she found weird) Sota's Gameboy, her "Algebra For Dummies" book, her laptop, an animated singing dog her great-aunt had gotten her last year, Gramps sutras, one of Buyo's cat toys, and finally a huge stack of her homework. That last thing really made her mad. All those times she thought she didn't get her assignments done which made her scurry to redo it for school and this whole time it was laying under Kaede's floor.

They were definitely going to have a LONG talk about this.

Just as she was about to set the board back in place, another piece of paper caught her eyes. Upon picking it up, she realized it was an envelope, but what really got her thinking was how yellowed it was.

_"This shouldn't be that yellowed if it's been down there as long as my homework. I wonder what could be inside."_

Curiosity getting the better of her, she opened the envelope and began to slip out the contents; Kaede walked in and sat down her herbs then looked towards Kagome.

_"Oh no, she found it!"_

Panic struck her as she beheld what Kagome held in her hands. As quickly as her old body would allow, she made her way to Kagome and seized the envelope before Kagome could unveil any of what was held inside.

"Child, why don't you begin cooking lunch, hmm?" Kaede suggested trying to avoid any questioning.

Kagome gave her a quizzical look, "But Kaede, it's no where near lunch time and we just had breakfast."

_"Is that paper hers? Why did it have Tokyo, Japan written on it? I've never brought anything from home like that. Is she keeping something from us?"_

Before Kaede could spout out something else to distract Kagome, Kikyo finally decided to make her appearance.

Calmly strolling over to stand over Kagome, the same blatant look on her face, she had decided that enough was enough.

"You will tell me everything about your home this minute."

Standing so that she could face Kikyo eye to eye, Kagome replied coldly to her, "I already told you that I wouldn't tell you anything Kikyo so what makes you think that I would tell you now?"

A smirk crossed Kikyo's clay face before she retorted, "Because I will destroy the well if you don't."

At hearing that, Kagome paled and dropped to her knees. 

* * *

**A/N ~ Sorry for the lateness in updating, been a stressful week and I couldn't concentrate on writing. Hope you enjoy this!**

**PLEASE COMMENT AND REVIEW ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**


	15. Prove It

**Curiosity - Chapter 15 - "Prove It"**

Silence befell the hut once again. How did Kikyo find out about the well? The only person in the village that really knows about the wells magic is Kaede and I know she wouldn't tell her. She couldn't have learned it from any of the other villagers because they only know that she lives in another land far away. Who could she have possibly gotten this knowledge from?

_"Wait a minute, she was gone all night and most of the morning. That would have given her enough time to make it to Inuyasha and back. No, no what am I thinking? He would never do that to me. Right?"_ Kagome questioned silently.

Even poor Kaede was struck silent by her elder sister. Clutching the envelope in her knurled hands, in a weak attempt to hold down her rising anger, Kaede stepped forward to confront Kikyo.

"Where did ye learn such a thing Kikyo? Surely none of the villagers told you. Ye have no right to use young Kagome's secret against her!"

Hard brown eyes turned to look down to the elderly woman. "You should hold your tongue dear sister; else I will be forced to reveal something about you as well to keep you out of this." She said eyeing the crumpled paper in Kaede's wrinkled hands.

Widening her eye, she quickly stuffed the envelope into her kimono sleeve and walked over to the fire and sat down, in fear of her most beloved secret being revealed. _"How could she know about that? We made sure to never let anyone know. Besides that she was dead."_

"How?" A quiet voice asked.

Kikyo turned her head back to the woman kneeling before her, who was now looking at her, anger filling her chocolate eyes.

"How do you know about the well? Who told you?" Kagome angrily asked while standing back up to face Kikyo in the eye.

A smirk crossed Kikyo's face, but just as she was going to answer, Izayoi and Touga returned from their walk.

"Is something wrong? Touga could smell your anxiety and anger so we hurried back to see if there was anything we could do." Izayoi questioned while gently holding Touga's arm. She was attempting to calm him, for he was lightly growling at the dead priestess. On the way back to Kaede's hut, Touga had told her that he felt that Kagome was in danger and that he needed to protect her since she was part of Inuyasha's pack.

Frowning at being so rudely interrupted, Kikyo began to answer Kagome again. "No one told me you idiotic excuse of a priestess! Did you ever stop to think that since the part of my soul that I have came from your body that I would not have some of your memories? Memories that possibly include a time portal located in an old well perhaps."

Shocked, Kagome took a step back from her predecessor, worry etching its way across her face. Why hadn't that thought ever crossed her mind? Was it possible for Kikyo to have some of her memories? A horrible thought struck her then, one which made fear clearly show itself on her face.

_"What if... what if she told Naraku of the well? My whole family may be in danger!"_

Smelling the fear coming from the alpha-female of his son's pack, Touga began to get defensive.

"Woman, you will stop this interrogation now, unless you wish to face my wrath." He growled out through his clenched fangs. He had heard the whole confrontation on his way here, and no one threatens any member of a dog demon's pack, unless they want a death wish.

Said miko completely ignored the raging dog demon, keeping her eyes trained on the now hyperventilating Kagome standing before her.

"I know what you must be thinking. Did I tell Naraku of the well's magic? Know this, if he had this knowledge, don't you think he would have used it against you by now? You may not be one of my favorite people, but one thing I would never do is endanger the threads of time."

Kagome looked into Kikyo's eyes to see if she was telling the truth, but her eyes were still hard and her emotions hidden. _"I suppose that I'll have to take the chance and trust her."_

"If what you say is true, then you'll have to prove it to me. Prove to me Kikyo that you have my memories." Kagome deftly insisted.

Stepping closer to Kagome, almost too where they were nose to nose, Kikyo began to spout out memories of a past that wasn't her own.

"When you were three you got your first pet, a duck named Waddles. At age four your father died and your family moved in with your grandfather at the Sunset Shrine. Seven, you almost died because you got hit in the head by a horse causing you to get a metal plate in your head. At ten you and your three best friends decided to run away and live in someplace called Disney Land. And on your fifteenth birthday, you fell into the Bone Eater's well and was brought back to this time."

All eyes turned to Kagome as they waited to see if what Kikyo had said was true. Everyone let out their breaths when she finally answered in a stunned voice. "It's true. It's all true. But that doesn't make any sense to me. If you have some of my memories, shouldn't I have some of yours as well? After all, I am your reincarnation."

"No one has memories of their past lives foolish girl. When each soul is born anew, their prior memories are washed away. Which explains why you knew nothing of this era, the jewel, and your lack of combat skills as well as the ability to use your purification ability to its fullest potential?" Kikyo answered spitefully. She knew that her copy would become upset if she realized the hidden meaning behind her response.

Kagome's anger rose at the last thing Kikyo said. "How dare you call me a weakling Kikyo? It's not my fault that I was born in an era without so much bloodshed OR that I wasn't trained as a miko from childhood. That doesn't mean that I don't know how to fight when the time arises. So don't belittle me Kikyo!"

Kikyo was quickly loosing her temper with the girl before her. "That is no excuse for you not being properly trained. Someone in your world should have sensed your power. Or perhaps someone in your family, after all, you do live at a shrine."

She didn't expect Kagome to laugh at what she said. What part of it, if any, would have been considered funny?

When she finally settled down, Kagome looked at Kikyo with amusement in her eyes. "My dear Kikyo, if it's true that you have some of my memories then surely you have a couple containing Gramps. Therefore you seem to have found the answer to why nobody was aware of any power that existed inside of me."

Kaede had to hold back her laugh at the look upon her sister's face, for she had heard of the many mishaps of Kagome's grandfather and his many attempts to sutra Inuyasha. She could tell that Kikyo had been rendered speechless by Kagome as well, but after a minute, Kaede saw a familiar gleam in her elder sister's eyes, one that she knew of far too well.

_"Now what could my elder sister be up to?"_ Kaede thought, intrigued by Kikyo's look of satisfaction.

With a smirk on her face, Kikyo serenely walked over to the doorframe and ripped off the sutra that held Kagome prisoner inside Kaede's hut. She then strolled over to the corner to her right and picked up a bow and full quiver of arrows.

Wide eyes were on her the entire time and growling could be heard throughout the hut, coming from none other than Touga himself, who stood protectively in front of his mate. He didn't trust this priestess; there was just something off about her, other than her being of the walking dead of course. She just acted as if she didn't have a soul at all, that she was merely a hollow shell. But that couldn't be true because from what he heard, part of Kagome's soul was inside the clay body of the woman once called Kikyo. It was just all to confusing for him at this point. Even though he was the strongest dog demon in the lands, his newly revived brain could only take so much, and this was just one of those things that he couldn't wrap his head around at this point.

Walking back towards where she left Kagome, Kikyo thrust the bow and quiver into her hands and grabbed her upper arm harshly.

"If you claim to be able to protect yourself then you must prove it to me." With that she proceeded to pull Kagome out of the hut harshly by the arm. As soon as both crossed the threshold of Kaede's hut, screams of "demon" could be heard throughout the entire village.

"Well wasn't that convenient, stepping out only to have a demon appear in our mitts? Pretty fishy..." Kagome stated sarcastically, but was cut off when Kikyo thrust her onto the dirt path the led out into Inuyasha's Forest.

"Demonstrate this talent you use for protecting yourself." Kikyo spoke coldly.

Feeling that Kagome shouldn't have to fight this demon alone, Kaede was about to step up to the young miko's side when she suddenly ran into a barrier, one that she realized had encompassed the entire village.

"Your help will not be needed in this battle. Kagome will have to show that she poses the power to defend herself." Kikyo said answering the unspoken question.

Looking back out towards the demon now approaching the girl, who had become like a granddaughter to her, she sent a silent prayer up to the heavens for her to get through this all in one piece.

Nervous is not exactly how Kagome would describe what she felt. She believed the proper word would be terrified. This was definitely the last thing that Kagome thought Kikyo would do to her. Why would a miko throw another one basically at a demons feet? This was yet another thing to add onto the "Talk To Inuyasha About" list.

Her thoughts were stopped abruptly though when she heard heavy breathing above her. Twisting her neck ever so slightly, she caught her first glance of the demon she would be facing.

Kagome didn't even have time to think up a skeleton strategy against the massive bear demon looming above her before it decided to strike. Flinging its paw down in an attempt to smash Kagome, the bear's mouth watered at the thought of tasting human flesh. Unfortunately defeating this puny human would be harder than it thought, for when he lifted his paw; there was no human, only dirt.

Thankfully, Kagome had rolled out of the way, just in time to keep from becoming a human pancake. Standing back on her own two feet, barely out of the sight of the demon, Kagome drew and notched an arrow aimed directly towards its head.

"Hey ugly!" She shouted. As the bear began to turn towards her, she let her arrow fly, only to have it miss due to the bear jumping out of the way. But when it landed her hopes were restored when she gazed upon the wound she had inflicted. That lucky shout had taken out one of the bears arms.

She notched another arrow, unfortunately she never got the chance to shoot it seeing as the demon began charging towards her with incredible speed. Fear overcame her as the bear edged closer, thankfully though, she was able to get out of it line of fire before she became bear chow, only to then have the bears head ram into her back sending her sprawling into the dirt.

Hearing the bears approach, she quickly pushed herself up only to almost loose her footing. The fall caused her to rip her jeans, which provided her legs with terrible scrapes and scratches, and her left ankle had been twisted severely, but she could tell that it wasn't broken.

Gritting through the pain, she stumbled over to a pile of firewood that the village had prepared for winter and stood her ground against the demon, not wanting to make a fool of herself in front Kikyo, Inuyasha's parents, or any of the villagers.

_"What am I going to do? I only know how to send my power into my arrows and to purify the jewel. If only I could make my power come out of my hands like when Lady Centipede was after me, but those two times were only flukes. I guess I'll just have to rely on my arrows, besides; this demon doesn't look too smart anyway. How hard could it be to kill it?"_

Even though this bear demon appeared to be one of the mindless kind, in actuality it wasn't, for it could tell that the arrows in the humans possession were dangerous and needed to be taken away immediately.

Finally coming back to its senses, the bear noticed that the human girl had taken out a large hunk of its stomach and fur. Not even registering the pain, the bear bent down on all three legs facing Kagome and blew towards her a breath of air, at which Kagome practically choked on due to its horrible stench.

Having Kagome distracted for the moment, the bear used its claws to cut away her quiver and snap her bowstring. It even went as far as crushing the quiver so that there would be no usable arrows left.

"_Well this is a great way to show Kikyo that I could defend myself. Having my only weapon taken away not even ten minutes into the battle." _Kagome thought while she was still choking.

When she eventually caught her breath minutes later, it was too late. She didn't hear the warnings of the villagers, and neither did she see the mammoth bear claw coming closer and closer from her left. Kagome didn't know what was going on until she felt terrible pain erupt from the left side of her body, to only then feel herself flying through the air until she felt insurmountable agony come from the right side of her body as well.

She heard the villagers calling her name, urging her to get up, that the demon was making its way closer. But she couldn't move, her left side had dulled to a slow throbbing, but the right side, oh that was in much worse condition. After all, wouldn't slamming against a tree, arm first, would break it and put it out of commission right?

In one last feeble effort to protect herself she did what any other human would do, Kagome raised her only working arm above her head.

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A/N - Early update for all of my awesome reviewers!

**BIG shout-out to Ennalight, XNekoKagsX, and Kagomethebeautifulmiko for their great reviews!**

**Now you guys are gonna throw flames at me for leaving it a cliffy! *Insert evil laugh here* **


	16. Do We Have An Accord?

**Curiosity – Chapter 16 – "Do We Have an Accord?"**

**_*Minutes before what could possibly be the end of Kagome's life.*_**

Kaede was flabbergasted that Kikyo would stoop so low as to pull something like this, and worst of all she looked as if she didn't even care what the outcome of this fight would be. Was she not worried of any consequences from a certain hanyou if Kagome did not make it out alive? Oh she had faith that Kagome would win this battle, but she could only hope that she would come out of it safely with a minimal amount of injuries. From the look of it though, that wasn't going to happen.

Hearing the gasps coming from beside her, Kaede turned to look over her fellow villagers, checking to make sure that none of them had been harmed before the barrier was set in place. Everyone surrounding her had not even a scratch on them, only worried and terrified looks upon their faces towards the young miko they had come to know and love.

Her eye finally fell onto Touga and Izayoi, both of whom looked angered by the sight they were witnessing before them. But something else caught her eye besides their angered expressions, it was the fact that Touga's eyes had taken on a crimson hue, which meant his demonic side felt the need to protect Kagome.

_"Could that be because Kagome is part of Inuyasha's pack?" _ Kaede wondered.

The sound of breaking wood brought Kaede out of her reverie as she turned back to the battle, and what she saw nearly made her heart stop. Kagome was limping away from the bear demon after it took away her only weapon of defense. What was she going to do now? When was Kikyo going to stop all of this madness? At the name of her sister crossing her mind, she gazed at Kikyo out of the corner of her eye and was infuriated by what she saw.

Kikyo, her beloved, dearest, and only "living" family left in this world was smirking at the scene playing out before her. She seemed to be getting some sort of joy out of watching Kagome fight for her life. How could she get any sort of pleasure from doing this? Someone had to do something before Kagome lost her life for sure, and she figured she should be the one to do it.

Grasping the bow tighter in her withered hands, she began to gather all the power she could muster to attempt to break down her sister's barrier. Unfortunately she never got the chance to release her power because of the hand the fell on her shoulder. Kaede turned to gaze at her sister with anger filled eyes.

"You will not stop me from doing this sister. Kagome should not have to fight this battle just to prove something to you." Kaede seethed through her clinched teeth as she shook Kikyo's hand off her shoulder.

Narrowing her eyes Kikyo watched as Kaede begin to gather power again, only this time she didn't even amass half her power before one of Kikyo's soul collectors wrapped itself around Kaede.

"You will not help Kagome win this battle dear sister. She will have to use her own power to bring herself out as the victor. Since you will not stop making an effort to help my reincarnation you will have to be restrained." With that said, two more soul collectors wrapped themselves around Kaede, but no one moved to help her, for only herself and Kikyo could see the wormlike creatures.

_"If only you knew my true intentions Kaede. It has nothing to do with entertainment as you think; it has to do with Kagome showing how much strength and power she truly holds within her being. That is one thing that I have to know for what I have planned."_ Kikyo explained silently to herself.

Then both sisters' heads turned back towards the fight after hearing something hard slam into a tree followed by a loud crack that would be known to all as a bone cracking. There was deafening silence for only a moment before the entire village began yelling at Kagome, begging and pleading for her to stand up, or at least get out of the way of the oncoming demon. They all had come to know and love the young mysterious priestess so well throughout her time in their village that all of them were truly in fear for her life. The last thing they wanted to see was Kagome struck down and having to face her hanyou friend when he found out the news of her death, if it actually came to pass.

What the entire village saw next made them all fall into complete silence. Kagome has just put her arm above her head in a feeble attempt to protect herself, looking as if she accepted her faith. Many of the villagers turned their heads from the sight; they didn't want to see the young priestess die at such a fate.

But as the demon came closer, Kagome's hand started to glow brighter and brighter with what could only be purification power until finally, when the demon was only inches away from her, a bright blast of pink energy shot out from her hand and completely destroyed the demon. All that was left of the fearsome battle was the damage done to the edge of the forest.

_"She couldn't have done that, she is untrained! Even myself as a trained miko cannot do that."_ Kikyo thought shockingly.

Meanwhile Kagome had realized that she was still alive and the bear demon was dead. She hardly believed that any of it was real, that is until the stabbing pain of her arm brought her back to the real world. Groaning in pain, she began to pull herself to her feet, leaning heavily against the tree for support while all the villagers gathered around her to offer their support.

A resounding flourish of questions inquiring about her health rang throughout the air but she couldn't answer any of them because she was still in shock over what had just happened.

One of the villagers who wasn't asking questions realized she needed Kaede's attention immediately, so he went and wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her to make her way back to Kaede, who had finally been released by the soul collectors and had rushed into her hut to prepare her medicines and bandages. This time she didn't care what Kikyo said about not treating Kagome's wounds, she needed medical attention that Kaede would not deny her.

Within minutes Kagome was leaning against a wall in Kaede's hut telling her all that she felt so that she could be treated properly.

"Child, ye need to drink this so that ye pain can be lessened." Kaede spoke while holding out a cup of her medicinal pain killer.

Shaking her head no, Kagome reached for her yellow bag with her good arm ad reached into one of the pockets and pulled out a little white bottle the grabbing a can of Red Bull that Inuyasha had taken from her.

"I'm sorry Kaede, but your herbs aren't going to cut it for me this time, the pain is too much. I need something stronger so I'll have to take some of my pain killers instead. My shoulder feels like it does when it pops out of socket. Wait a second." Kagome spoke as she swallowed a couple of her futuristic medicines and then took hold of her injured arm just above the elbow, twisted, and pushed her right shoulder back into the wall followed by an audible "pop".

Looking back to Kaede, and now Izayoi, grinning, she explained.

"Well, that's one last thing you have to do." She airily laughed out, knowing that her pain medicine had begun taken effect.

"How did you do that? Not even my darling Touga can pop his shoulder back in." Izayoi asked.

"I've just learned to do it over the years. Ever since I was little my right shoulder would pop out of socket at least twice a years, so I just got to the place where I could pop it back in myself." Kagome replied.

_"Hm, I wonder if that passed over into Kikyo's next life. She always had trouble with her shoulder coming out of place."_ Kaede questioned to herself.

After that, Kaede, with the help of Izayoi, set Kagome's arm, cleaned the scrapes on her legs, wrapped her bruised ankle, and helped her into a different pair of jeans along with one of Kaede's miko kimono tops, for the rest of Kagome's shirts were dirty.

It was at this time, after almost an hour of working that Kikyo walked in and stood over Kagome with serious look on her face as always.

"Have you finally decided whether or not to tell me of your world? Or better yet, why not take me there?" Kikyo asked.

"Sister, I hardly believe that this is the time to be discussing this." Kaede said from across the room.

Turning to look at her elderly sister, Kikyo basically took control over her like she used to as a child. "You will stay out of this sister. Or do you need to be bound again so that you may learn your lesson?"

Kaede didn't get the chance to reply because Touga came to her defense. "Miko, you will do well as to not threaten your sister as such. I know what you did to her during the battle and if you do it again I will dispose of you."

When Touga finished he went and leaned against the wall with Izayoi safely tucked in his lap as Kikyo began to scrutinize Kagome again.

"Well? What is your decision?"

Kagome stood up slowly and used the wall for support so that she could stare Kikyo right in the eyes.

"First of all you will not look down upon me; I do not wish to feel demeaned. Second, I am tired of all this nonsense, so I will take you to my world, but there are a few conditions you must follow." Kagome spoke bravely.

The other occupants of the hut were silent as they waited for Kagome's conditions, all of them nervous of what they might be.

"Condition one: you will convince Inuyasha to give me five extra days back home along with my original three for a total of eight days in my world.

"Condition two: you will take any and all the blame for anything Inuyasha comes up with, because it is your fault that I wasn't home in the first place AND the reason that I missed one of my tests.

"Condition three: you will not hurt anyone in my family or anyone else in my world for that matter If you do, you will be brought back here immediately.

"And the final condition: if Naraku ever finds out about my world and I find out that his informant was you, I will personally hunt you down and kill you myself." Kagome seethed the final condition through her teeth.

Silence once again engulfed the hut as Kikyo thought all of Kagome's demands over. Finally after minutes of waiting, Kagome stuck her good hand out and asked.

"Do we have an agreement? Plus I will remind you, Kaede, Touga, and Izayoi are witnesses to this, so they can back me up if you break anything in our agreement."

If there was any possibility for Kikyo to look even colder as usual, then she certainly looked it now as she reached her hand out and grasped Kagome's outreached hand.

"Agreed."

When Kikyo said that, a knocking was heard at the door followed by the head of a young woman popping into the hut and what she said made Kaede's blood run cold.

"Hello, I'm here to replace the village miko as requested." 

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**A/N ~ Just wanted to tell everyone that I am VERY SORRY about the lateness and shortness of this update. My computer decided to die and I had to wait to get a replacement before I could continue to write. I PROMISE to have another LONG chapter up by at least Saturday. Again I am very SORRY!**

**PLEASE CHECK OUT MY ONE-SHOT "They Weren't The Only Ones" THAT IS POSTED HERE ON FANFICTION ~ I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF IT!**

**Proud to be a KAEDE/GRAMPS supporter!**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**


	17. To The Modern Era We Go

**PLEASE NOTE ~ I did have this done on Saturday as I promised, but FF has been giving me problems and not letting me upload. SORRY!**

**Curiosity – Chapter 17 – "To The Modern Era We Go"**

"What do ye mean 'replacement'?" Kaede exclaimed horrified. She had never given any hint of wanting to give up her post as village miko. Had someone decided to go behind her back and get rid of her? Had they thought her to old and wore down to continue her duties?

Now the young woman stepped fully into the hut to give everyone a view of her miko attire. She didn't look as tall as Kikyo but she was definitely taller than Kaede and had beauty to match. The odd thing was that this woman looked even younger than Kagome.

Setting down her few possessions down by the door, the young miko walked over to Kaede and gave her a low bow before introducing herself.

"My name is Lady Takara and I hail from a village far towards the south of Musashi. I know I am young in age for a miko, but I have excellent marksmanship and a wealth of knowledge about herbal remedies."

"Ye have not answered my question child." Kaede interrupted. She was starting to panic with all of this runaround.

"I am sorry fellow miko. You are thinking I was summoned to permanently replace you yes? Many people seem to think that about me, but in actuality I am only here on behalf of another priestess. She asked me to fill in as village priestess for a few days while you are away. I honestly don't mean any harm." Lady Takara explained calmly. She didn't want to upset Lady Kaede any more than she already seemed to be.

Kaede looked at Lady Takara in bewilderment. "Gone? Gone where? I'm not planning to go anywhere."

Kagome had stayed silent for the entire exchange, in fact everyone was, but Kagome saw the pieces fall in place when Lady Takara had said something about Kaede going away.

"You had this all planned out didn't you?" She whispered out as she stared at Kikyo.

All eyes fell onto Kikyo, waiting for an explanation of what Kagome could have meant.

Smirking, Kikyo stared back at her reincarnation before retorting.

"You don't seem as dumb as I thought you to be. Of course I had this all planned out. I knew that you would finally cave and take me through to your world due to the fact that you are so concerned about missing out on your education. But I knew from the memories of your life that we share that as soon as we reached your home that you would give me the silent treatment, and that is where Kaede comes in at. I know that you will talk to her because she isn't a threat towards you."

Everyone could see that Kagome was obviously fuming at being thought of as dumb while Kaede visibly calmed from the knowledge that she was not going to be replaced. Now if only someone would break the continuing silence that seemed to be happening as of late, that would make everyone feel much better.

A giggle broke through the silence and everyone waited for an explanation.

"This whole situation is so ridiculous it's actually funny." Kagome said still giggling, but unfortunately none of the others could see what she was seeing about the present circumstances.

It was then that Touga stood along with Izayoi and cleared his throat.

"I believe we should get going if we wish to make it to Kagome's time before sundown. If we can make it by then that is."

"You mean you wish to go to my home as well? But why would you want to do that?"

Izayoi gave the young miko a small smile before she answered for herself and Touga, "That is simple my dear. You are our son's friend and if we wish to be reunited with him peacefully then we feel that you should get to know you better and you us so that it would be simpler to convince him that we truly have returned to him."

"_And I wish to meet the family of my son's alpha-female. Since she seems to be so important to him, perhaps her family is too." _Touga added silently.

Agreeing whole heartedly with their logic, Kagome went and grabbed her bag up with her good arm and waited for Kaede to gather a couple of things and making sure that Takara knew of the current sick villagers before finally making their way into the Forest of Inuyasha.

Kikyo decided that she would be self-proclaimed leader and led the way to their destination and Inuyasha's parents followed above in the trees while Kaede and Kagome brought up the rear.

Kaede noticed that Kagome was being quiet and that every once in a while she would pinch her arm, which was something she found odd. It was with that that she voiced her concern to Kagome.

"Don't worry about me Kaede. I guess you could say that all this is beginning to overwhelm me. I mean it's just weird that suddenly Kikyo wants to know all about me and my home and then Inuyasha's parents show up which makes things even weirder. On top of that I've had what, two near death experiences since coming back to the village. It seems too much like a dream to me and I keep pinching myself to see if I can wake up. I just can't shed the feeling that something is going to happen soon and it is really starting to scare me." Kagome explained the best she could.

"Plus I can tell that my medicine has kicked in so it is making me a little loopy." Kagome added in.

Kaede furrowed her eyebrows and looked up to Kagome. "Loopy? I have never heard of such a term. Another odd word from your era perhaps, what does it mean?"

"Um, it's another word for crazy, mildly insane, silly, and daft. This only happens when I take any kind of pain medicine with Red Bull though. AH!" Kagome screamed out, finally realizing that Kikyo had stopped so she could hear the conversation and that she had almost run into her.

"Then why did you do such a thing if you knew that you would act as such?" Kikyo asked.

Kagome knew exactly how to respond to her question, plus get a laugh out of Kaede and possibly Touga, if he liked jokes that is. She put a really dumb look upon her face and peered into Kikyo's eyes.

"Well Kikyo you should have stopped me if you didn't want me to act this way. After all, you put yourself in charge so that would mean that you are responsible for my actions. If you have any more of my memories then you should have known that this would happen. Besides that mom always says that the eldest is left in charge and we can't determine that until we figure out if we are going by human or demon years, which would make Kaede or Touga in charge. Then again, if we went by either set of ages Touga would most likely be the eldest anyway so you really shouldn't be in charge at all. End of discussion."

A bellowing laugh erupted from the tree above them which in turn made both Kaede and Kagome laugh as Kikyo once again began to make her way to the well. After about a minute, Touga hopped down from the tree with Izayoi in his arms and all four of them set out once again towards the well.

"My goodness Kagome, you certainly come up with some good ideas to make Lady Kikyo upset. And quite frankly I enjoy it; she deserves a little something like that with all she has done to my son." Izayoi praised.

The closer they got to the well, the more Kagome kept getting distracted with the woods around her. Touga had found it quite amusing, but still asked in concern if she was alright, to which Kagome told him that whenever she took that kind of medicine along with the Red Bull it always made her hyper and easily distracted by shiny things and cute puppies. That had gotten another bellowing laugh from the great youkai and announced that he would make sure the medicine had worn off before transforming into his true form because if he did that would definitely distract her for a while.

What they didn't know was that this reaction also made her say random things. At one point she had asked Kaede if she wanted to hear a random fact, to which Kaede agreed, finding this side of Kagome quite amusing.

"Ok, in the 1966 Batman Television series King Tut's henchman were called 'Tutlings'." Kagome had told her, her reason for saying it being that it was a fact that everyone had needed to know for no apparent reason, which they had all found funny.

Now that they were all at the well, Kagome felt that she needed to explain something to them, that way they wouldn't do anything drastic in her world.

"Just to give you a bit of forewarning, Gramps will probably try to throw sutras at you because I've pretty much told him about everything that goes on here. But don't worry; just let him throw them at you to get it out of his system. His sutras won't hurt you at all, believe me he hardly has any power. You don't know how many times he has thrown them at Inuyasha and all he does is look at the sutra, peel it off his body and hand it back to Gramps."

"You mean he is a priest and he doesn't have any power?" Kikyo asked skeptically.

Kagome bit her bottom lip out of habit before answering.

"Well, I'm sure that he had power at one time. According to his brothers he did, but now he doesn't even have enough to make a simple barrier. But I'm sure that once everything is explained he won't even bother with the sutras and if he does all we have to do is go get mom. He really doesn't like to get on her bad side."

"I'm positive we can't all go through the well at once so how are we going to do this?" Kagome questioned.

Izayoi's wide eyes turned to Touga and then to Kagome, "You mean we have to go through this well to get to your home?"

It was then that both Kaede and Kagome realized that Inuyasha's parents didn't know the story behind the magical well, so they both tried to explain it as best they could. After that, they decided in what order they would all go down the well.

Kagome would take Kikyo first, since she basically demanded to be brought to the future first. Then Kagome would come back for Kaede, Touga, and Izayoi that way he could carry both women out of the well and Kagome could just climb up the ladder.

When the party made their way outside and into the shrine grounds, their breaths were all taken away, especially Kikyo's and Kaede's. Neither had ever seen a shrine so big before. And the center of it all was the Sacred Tree that was so important to them each in different ways.

Not wanting to overwhelm the group to much in one day, Kagome led them to the back of the grounds to her home.

"I have never seen a hut like this before. Is your father the headman of your village?" Touga asked, intrigued at the structure before him.

"No, my father died when I was little. This is the kind of house most people in this day and age have if they have a bigger family." Kagome replied while trying to open up her front door. It wouldn't budge so Kagome figured it was locked and went about looking for her keys. She searched in her jeans pockets, her kimono top, and all throughout her backpack to no avail.

Finally she turned to Kaede, "Did I give you my keys?"

With a shake of her head to indicate "no" Kagome began to get upset with a certain inu-hanyou.

"Grrr… Stupid Inuyasha took my keys again!"

"You mean he has done this before?" Touga asked curiously.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Kagome knocked on the front door before replying. "Yes, he thinks that if he takes my keys that I won't be able to get into the house which would make me go back to the Feudal Era to hunt more jewel shards. What he doesn't seem to realize is that usually there is usually someone home to let me inside which would mean I get to stay home anyway."

No one had come to the door yet o Kagome had knocked again, this time though someone did come to answer.

"Who is it?" A young male voice asked.

"It's me Souta. Would you please let me in?" Kagome answered back.

"What's the password?" Souta inquired.

"Souta we don't have a password." She airily laughed back while she gazed at the perplexed people surrounding her.

"Yes we do, I made one up while you were gone."

Rolling her eyes, Kagome leaned against the doorframe before responding to her brother.

"Souta see if you can follow me on this ok? If you made up a password to get into our house, while I was five hundred years in the past mind you. Then how, pray tell, would I know what said password is?"

There was a long pause before the sound of locks unlocking could be heard.

"Good point sis. For future reference the password is 'Souta is awesome'."

Just as the door was opening and Kagome was about to lead the way inside, it was slammed shut followed by an urgent yell.

"Don't let that demon into our home! He'll kill us all!" An obviously male voice hollered.

Slapping her forehead and letting out an exasperated sigh, Kagome began the task of calming down her grandfather.

"Gramps calm down he's not going to hurt us! This is Inuyasha's father and he wants me to help him reunite with Inuyasha peacefully. He won't do us any harm!"

"He has bewitched you Kagome and as head of the Higurashi clan I will release you from his trickery!"

Kagome turned and gave Touga a sorrowful look to try and show that she was sorry on her grandfather's behalf before turning back to reason with him. What none of them noticed though was the gasp that came from a certain priestess.

"First of all you are not head of the Higurashi clan and second you can't honestly be serious about this. He isn't going to do anything to us; all he wants is to bring back together his family. Will you please let us in?"

There was no response from the other side of the door so this meant that her grandfather was up to something and it obviously involved some sort of family heirloom that would destroy demons that didn't actually work.

"Now how are we supposed to get into ye home?" Kaede asked

Kagome then bit her lip again and then came up with a marvelous plan that would even make Kikyo jealous. She led everyone to the side of the house and out of view of any windows so that Gramps couldn't see what she was doing.

Once she was sure that Gramps couldn't see her, Kagome put her hands together and began visualizing what she wanted to create.

"What are you doing girl?" Kikyo ask callously.

Grinning widely as her hands began to glow a pale pink, Kagome began explaining.

"Well, there was one day where I didn't have anything to do here at home and I began wondering if I had any other kind of cool priestess powers. I started playing around trying to figure out what I could do while I was listening to some music by this man named Elvis Presley when suddenly my hands started glowing like this and he unexpectedly appeared in front of me. So I tried to do something similar again but with different people and the same thing happened. I can make them do whatever I want; walk, talk, run, dance, fight, anything and everything I wish. And all I have to do is blow into my hands like this."

After saying that she opened her hands, palms up, and blew the pink energy from her hands to in front of her where it started swirling and taking shape until finally a middle aged woman stood before them, looking as if she had just come from the store.

"Everyone, meet mom." Kagome said proudly.

"What exactly do you plan on doing with her?" Touga questioned.

"Just watch."

Laughing, Kagome took her index and middle fingers and started moving them like a person would walk, which in turn made Kagome's mother walk as well. When "mom" reached the door, Kagome peered around the corner, cleared her throat, and prepared to throw her voice in an imitation of her mothers.

"Boys! I'm back from the store and I can't seem to get the door open. Could one of you let me in please?" Kagome's 'mother' asked.

They could all hear footsteps running towards the front door and only moments later did Souta open the door and Kagome had 'Mama' walk in before she threw her voice again.

"And dear I saw Kagome and her friends outside, would you mind letting them in? I'm sure that their hungry after such a hard journey. Let them in and I will get dinner started."

Not thinking anything about it, Souta yelled outside for Kagome and everyone to come in the house. They all made their way into the house trying very hard not to laugh, well, all of them except Kikyo of course. Kagome led them to the living room to make themselves comfortable and that's when Souta finally came to his senses.

"Hey wait a minute! Mom is in Osaka helping Auntie with her new baby. So who is that?" Souta exclaimed while pointing at his 'mother'.

Gramps had heard the whole thing ran into the room as fast as he could, sutras in hand, ready to attack the imposter.

At this point, Kagome just couldn't help it anymore and began laughing at her family's antics. When she finally caught her breath, Kagome drew back in the energy that had made up her mother and turned to take care of her grandfather.

"Gramps, will you please put the sutras down? Nothing is going to happen."

"I will not! It is my responsibility to protect this family and that is just what I intend to do. I have developed a new adhesive to put on my sutras to heighten my power which will definitely eliminate any demon." Gramps declared while proudly holding up his sutras.

Rolling her eyes once again and stepping towards Gramps with her hand out, she tried to reason with him.

"Right Gramps, just like the last seven concoctions that you came up with that were 'guaranteed' to work. Now please hand them over before you do something you'll regret."

"Those last ones were only tests; this one is assured to work. It is my best mixture yet and…"

Gramps stopped himself short as his eyes caught those of the woman setting across the room, and hers caught his. It seemed as if all the muster behind his panic had been taken away just by the sight of her. He didn't even notice when the arm he had stuck out that boldly held his sutra was lowering while Souta was bending down to pick up the object the fell out of his kimono sleeve. As Souta stood with the item in hand, the special "adhesive" Gramps had put on the sutra somehow found its way to Souta's head and stuck there.

"Ugh, what is this stuff?" Souta asked as he tried to pull the piece of paper out of his hair only to have it almost rip his hair out. Gramps didn't even answer his question; he was still entranced with the lovely woman on the other side of the room.

Curious as to what had fallen out of Gramps sleeve; Kagome took the small object from her brother's hand and gazed at it. When she saw exactly what Gramps had used it infuriated her to no end.

"Gramps how could you pull such a stupid stunt! Using super glue to so call amplify your power. Now you've got it stuck in Souta's hair."

"What precisely is 'super glue'?" Izayoi wondered aloud.

Grabbing her brother's hand, Kagome turned and answered Izayoi before leading her brother out of the room.

"It is a type of substance that you use to stick two things together permanently and doesn't have any effect on spiritual energy. Come on Souta let's go get this cut out of your hair."

Just as the two siblings left the room, Gramps had finally come out of his stupor and grinned as an old idea reentered his mind.

"Well Souta, since you have to cut your hair why not shave it and join into the priesthood?"

The heated looks he received from his grandchildren made that idea leave his mind immediately.

"For the last time I/he is not entering the priesthood!" Both of them hollered at the same time before heading up to the bathroom, leaving Gramps in a room full of strangers.

But when he saw Kikyo, his heart practically stopped, which wasn't very good for a man of his age. He just couldn't believe what he was seeing and couldn't stop what he said next from blurting out of his mouth.

"Kagome has a twin sister and nobody told me!"

* * *

**A/N ~ Whew, got it up in time didn't I? Hope this is a long enough chapter for you guys and that it makes up for the lateness in updates the last couple of weeks. Next chapter won't be up for another week at most.**

**Want to give a shout-out to all of my wonderful reviewers and subscribers! Thanks a bunch for reading "Curiosity."**

**If any of you want to do Fanart for it be my guest, even if it is just a sketch! Just please link me and let me know about it on DeviantArt ~ I am under the same name there!**

**To Kagomethebeautifulmiko ~ For some reason I couldn't respond to your question, so here is my answer. Inuyasha will be appearing within the next few chapters. I would have had him added by now, but every time I write out the part where I have him in it, it seems like the story is going to fast so I have to put him off. But don't worry, he'll make his debut soon enough!**

**On a funny note – I took a couple of my ducks to a Farm Adventure event at our local fairgrounds. It is where first graders get to see farm animal and equipment up close. I got some pretty odd questions those two days, but the funniest one was when one of the kids pointed to the water pan and as if that was the ducks pee/toilet and did it know how to use the bathroom. Just thought you all would find that funny.**

**PLEASE COMMENT AND REVIEW ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**


	18. Welcome To The Future

**ATTENTION ~ PLEASE READ AUTHORS NOTE AT END!**

**Curiosity – Chapter 18 – "Welcome To The Future"**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up!" Kagome hollered as she walked back into the living room after hearing her grandfather's last remark, Souta following her after hearing his outburst.

Before she started in on Gramps, Kagome saw everyone she had brought back from the Feudal Era took a step back.

"Um, not literally guys. Why don't all of you si… I mean have a seat while I straighten Gramps out." Kagome suggested as she showed Touga and Izayoi the couch and Kaede in one of the easy chairs while Kikyo preferred standing.

Gramps was already nervous with Inuyasha's father around, but he got downright scared when he saw the stone cold look upon Kikyo's face. Apparently she didn't like the thought of herself and Kagome being twins.

"Gramps, what in the world are you thinking? You know I don't have a twin sister. Besides that you were right outside the room the day I was born." Kagome explained calmly to her grandfather.

"How am I supposed to know if that is true or not? She could have been hidden away for all I know!" He exclaimed.

Smacking her forehead with her good hand and sighing due to her grandfather's antics, she tried to reason with him.

"Yeah Gramps, she's been hidden away all this time. We've been keeping her in the basement for the past fifteen years." Kagome said sarcastically as her patience began to wear thin. Honestly, where had he come up with any of this?

An insistent tugging on her top brought Kagome's attention back to her brother.

"Sis, this is starting to burn." Souta spoke while pointing at the super glued sutra still attached to his head.

Immediately going into nursing mode, Kagome took hold of her brother's hand again and began leading him up stairs and into the bathroom. But before they even hit the first step Kagome turned back to face her grandfather once again.

"I'll be back in a few minutes and if I find even one little hint of a sutra I WILL call mom and you can face her wrath."

When she turned around to leave Gramps reached back into his sleeve to grab yet another sutra. Unfortunately for him, Kagome's sixth sense kicked in as she walked back over to him and commandeered the rest of his stash.

"I saw that Gramps. It's gonna take more than that to hide your sutras from me."

Facing the rest of her guests, a soft smile spread across her face before she spoke. "Please make yourselves comfortable while I take care of my brother. When we're done I'll make some tea and get you properly introduced to my family."

Not knowing what else they could do, the four people from the Feudal Era made themselves as comfy as they could in their new surroundings. Gramps seated himself as well, grumbling the whole time about being stuck in a room with four people he didn't know. But he just couldn't get one thing off his mind the entire time.

_"It couldn't possibly be her could it? No, it isn't and you know it. I'm just an old man imagining that he is about to finally get the happily ever after that he's always dreamed of. Anyway, I knew I would never see her again."_

Minutes passed by in uncomfortable silence, this began to really start bothering Kaede. How many bouts of silence could someone take in almost three days? Certainly not this much that was for sure. She never was one of the silent types; she always liked to hear some sort of chatter because it made her feel less lonely.

Talking could be heard coming from the hall before Kagome and Souta made their way back into the living room. Souta went and took up his usual spot in front of the television while Kagome made her way to the easy chair, this way she could face everyone.

"Well, now that that little incident is taken care of I believe I can properly introduce all of you to my family. That is everyone except my mother of course since she isn't here at the moment."

"It's about time." Gramps muttered under his breath.

"I heard that Gramps. Since you're having some issues today you can be introduced first. This is my grandfather Yasuhiro Higurashi; he is the priest of this shrine. Gramps, this is Touga and Izayoi, they are Inuyasha's parents, and this is Kikyo, she is my pre-incarnation that I told you about, and finally this is her younger sister Kaede." Kagome explained while pointing everyone out.

Souta's eyes had become wide when Kagome had started provided names to the faces, but what really freaked him out was how Gramps and Kaede wouldn't stop glancing at each other, as if something was up or if they both knew some dirty little secret.

"Souta I asked if you were alright." Kagome repeated once again.

He took a big gulp before answering. "Um, yeah sis, I'm fine. It's just… didn't you say once that both of Inuyasha's parents and Kikyo were dead?"

"Yes I did, but what does that have to do with anything?" Kagome responded as her forehead scrunched in confusion. What she didn't expect was Souta suddenly swishing past her and hiding behind the other easy chair she was currently occupying.

"Protect me sis!" Souta yelled out from his hiding place.

A giggle made its way out of her before she turned in an attempt to get a glimpse of her brother. "Awe, are you afraid of the dust bunnies living under the couch? Seriously, what could I ever have to protect you from here?"

The boy came out from around the couch sporting an astonished look upon his face as he stared at his sister before he burst into hysterics. "Kagome are you nuts? You should be freaking out right now! There are DEAD people in the house who are going to eat our brains!"

"I do not eat brains." Kikyo declared darkly which made Souta take a step away from her in fear.

"You have been watching way to many horror movies Souta. And besides that only zombies eat brains, and they aren't real." Kagome reasoned.

"Yes they are. There are three of them in the room to prove my point." Souta said proudly.

_"Boy my brother can be so stupid."_ Kagome thought exasperated.

Using her good arm and hand, Kagome grabbed a hold of her brother's chin and turned his face to those whom he had called zombies. Keeping a firm grip on him the entire time, she began to disprove his theory.

"So you think they are literally the walking dead. Tell me Souta, do any of them have limbs hanging only by a thread?"

"No."

"Discolored skin?"

"No."

"Are they saying anything about eating some sort of human body parts?"

"No."

"And finally, do you smell any rotting flesh?"

"Um… no."

"Does this not mean that we are not these 'zombies' that you speak of?" Izayoi asked.

Souta nodded his head furiously to alert all of them that he understood perfectly and also because his sister's grip was really starting to hurt his chin. When Kagome released him, he quickly made his way to his room for he didn't want to face his sister or Kikyo's, who he now deemed Kagome's evil twin sister, wrath.

"The things that boy comes up with." Gramps muttered as he read the afternoon paper.

A snort left Kagome as she turned to face her grandfather. "Well he gets it from you. I don't know how many times you've come up with some sort of harebrained story about one thing or another, plus all those wild tales you told Inuyasha about the Higurashi ancestors that you know never happened. Oh I forgot the tea! I'm sorry everyone, will green tea be alright or would you like something different?" Kagome asked while she stood and headed into the kitchen to begin preparing the tea.

"I had better help ye child. You have no business carrying a tray of tea with your arm in that condition." Kaede stated as they both made their way into the kitchen after making sure everyone was ok with green tea.

Kaede made her way over to the tea kettle while Kagome was busy trying to pull out the tea, cups, and the tray. But she stopped cold when she heard the water begin to run. She turned to her left and watched in astonishment as Kaede set the tea kettle under the faucet, which she had somehow managed to turn on, then turn around and shut it off, put the kettle on the stove and turn it on as well.

_"There is no way I just saw her do that."_ Kagome thought in disbelief. She even pinched herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. Nope, she wasn't in some sort of weird dream. That means that Kaede actually did just work the sink and stove, but how?

"Are ye alright child?" Kaede asked concerned.

"Close your mouth girl or you might just catch flies." Kikyo spoke from the doorway. This made Kagome snap out of it and go back to getting out the tea cups, which showed Kaede that she was in fact ok.

Within moments everything was out and ready for the tea to be served, now all they had to do was wait for the water to boil.

All three women were startled out of yet another bout of awkward silence by the tea kettle going off and a knock coming from the door. Both Kaede and Kagome went after the kettle while Gramps got up to answer the door, leaving Touga and Izayoi by themselves in the living room, which neither of them minded.

"Here we go!" Kagome announced as she, Kaede, and Kikyo made their way back into the room with the tea and all the fixings. Once they all made themselves comfortable, Gramps made his way back into the room followed by an older woman and a little girl.

The woman had shoulder length black hair, a beautiful smile, and bright violet eyes that seemed to be filled with compassion. The thing that surprised everyone though was her stature. Surely no woman could be as tall as she was. This woman must be as tall as Sesshomaru, and that was without heels on!

The girl on the other hand was vastly different. She didn't have the traditional black or brown hair; in fact her two pigtails were almost blonde in color. And her eyes, they were the color of the sea and were filled with the playfulness that could only come from a child. They could all tell that she would be shorter in stature to that of her mother for she was barely above her mother's kneecap in height, which made her about two and a half foot tall.

When the little girl glanced around the room at all of the people, she took everyone warily until her young eyes finally landed on Kaede and a huge grin made its way across her face.

"Ma-maw!" She screamed before launching herself into Kaede's arms, startling her and making her almost spill her tea.

"Suki don't do that! It isn't nice and besides that she isn't Grandma." Her mother scolded gently.

"Tis alright, I am often called Grandma by the village children." Kaede answered as she set her tea down and pulled the little girl into her lap to return her hug.

The woman only smiled warmly as she turned to Gramps, who had sat back down in his rocking chair.

"Daddy, I was wondering if you would mind having Suki stay here for the night. Ollie's mother took a nasty fall down the stairs and I need to help get her settled. I know you have your duties around the shrine, but I'm sure Suki wouldn't mind spending all her time with Kagome or Souta; she does adore them after all. She seems to be quite attached to… oh what was his name? I just don't remember, all I know is that my little darling calls him 'Ya-ya'."

Kaede lost her breath at what the woman had said. _"Daddy? Could he have moved on? No, you foolish old woman, it couldn't possibly be him. How could you ever think that?"_

"Oh Auntie Aisha we would be glad to watch her while you take care of Uncle's mother." Kagome spoke cheerfully.

Smiling appreciatively, Aisha looked to her watch before walking towards Suki, who was still sitting on Kaede's lap.

"Oh dear, I didn't know I was running so late. Now Suki, you be a good girl for Gramps and Kagome ok. Mommy will be back sometime tomorrow to pick you up. I love you baby." She said as she gave Suki a hug and a kiss.

"Ok lady I love you bye-bye!" Suki waved happily from Kaede's lap.

An exasperated sigh left Aisha's lips as she stood up from being down at Suki's level. "Call me mommy baby, not 'lady'."

Giggling erupted from the tiny toddler as she slid out of Kaede's lap and glanced up at her mother through her bangs. "Silly lady."

Once the goodbyes were said again, Aisha left the shrine and Suki stood facing Kagome with a huge grin on her face and almost bouncing with contained excitement. Kagome knew all too well what this meant and with a gentle jerk of her head towards the back door, Suki ran outside and into the woods behind the shrine.

"Where is she going?" Izayoi asked curiously.

"You'll see." Gramps replied as he took another sip of his tea.

Moments later Suki reappeared before them, somehow managing to carry two white puppies while another white dog, that was taller than her, walked obediently beside her. After setting the puppies down, the little girl was distracted by them when they began to play with her clothes.

"Pups and a dog." Touga said skeptically.

A small giggle escaped from Kagome. "Yes, she is always bringing animals over from the farm she lives on to try and get us friends. She somehow gets them to follow her all the way here without her mother noticing. Last time she snuck over a couple of ducklings in her bag and the time before that it was a horse. I still haven't figured out how she managed to get that horse here without anyone seeing it though."

After that, Kagome tried to answer the various questions about the futuristic items in the living room. Minutes later, she noticed they were almost out of tea and she went to boil more water. It was about this time that Suki decided it was time to give a certain someone special to her their gift.

Lifting up one of the puppies, she turned to the great dog demon, prepared to present him with his new friend.

"Ya-ya, look what I…" Suki stopped short when she noticed something was missing, and it scared her. When Touga turned to look at her, it only frightened her more because she thought something had happened to her beloved Ya-ya. At this point she couldn't hold in the big, wet tears anymore and she sat on the floor and began to cry.

It was at this time that Kagome was returning with the tea and when she saw Suki on the floor crying she immediately gathered the small girl up in her good arm and began calming her down.

"Shhhh Suki, it's ok. What's wrong?" Kagome questioned.

"Ears gone." She heard mumbled into her neck.

_"Oh she thinks something happened to him." _Kagome realized in her head.

She then turned Suki around to face the perplexed inu-youkai to show her that it wasn't who she thought it was and that there was no reason to be upset.

"Suki, look at him for a minute. What do you see that is different?"

Tear filled eyes took in all of Touga's form before Suki sniffled and turned back to Kagome. "Ears gone."

"Yes we know that, but what else is missing?"

"Red and hair and scar and um… Ya-ya no wear boots. Oh no!" Suki yelled out the last part before standing and walking towards Touga with a determined look on her face before slapping his knee and glaring up at him.

"Bad Fluffy! You no hurt Ya-ya no more! You do and I put you in time out!" She proclaimed courageously.

Light giggling caused a stunned Touga to turn towards his mate. He rose an eyebrow in silent questioning to see what he believed was so funny.

"Darling, I believe little Suki thought that at first you were Inuyasha and that something had happened to him since she didn't see his cute ears upon your head. Now, if my thinking is correct, she believes you are Sesshomaru and she feels the need to punish you for something he must have done to Inuyasha."

"Bad Fluffy!" Suki said again as she hit Touga's knee once again which brought his attention back to her.

He stared at her for only a moment before he gathered her up in his arms and set her in his lap, only to gaze at her now prone and fearful looking form.

Ever so gently, Touga brought Suki's small hands into his large clawed ones and he gazed into her eyes as he saw realization pass through them. He watched as she used her right hand to feel and poke his left hand and arm. She even went as far as to roll his sleeve up to stare at his bare arm before turning to look back at him confused.

"You have arm. You not Fluffy, who are you?" Suki asked quietly.

Izayoi was the one to answer her, "Suki, I am Izayoi, Inuyasha's mother. And this is Touga, Inuyasha's father."

There was silence for a few moments while Suki processed this new information. She then turned her gaze towards Kagome and cocked her head questioningly.

"Ya-ya has a daddy?"

With that small question, laughter erupted throughout the room.

* * *

**A/N ~ I apologize for the lateness in this update. PLEASE UNDERSTAND I am HEAVILY involved in 4-H and the 4-H season is upon us where I am at, so my focus is turning to completing my many projects.**

**I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS FANFICTION! I WILL STILL BE UPDATING BUT IT WILL MOST LIKELY BE EVERY OTHER WEEK!**

**NOTE ~ If you think it has taken to long for me to update, check DeviantArt to see if I have a new chapter posted there. I am under the same username or simply Google Daphneshaggydoo. Sometimes, fanfiction won't let me upload for one reason or another.**

**PLEASE CHECK OUT THE FIRST CHAPTER OF MY NEW STORY "IF ONLY IN REALITY" POSTED HERE. This is a side story I am slowly working on. This won't be updated regularly until I get Curiosity done, but I will be posting a chapter every once in a while.**

**PROUD TO BE A KAEDE/GRAMPS SUPPORTER! ARE YOU?**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**


	19. One, Two, I'm Coming For You

**Curiosity – Chapter 19 – "One, Two, I'm Coming For You."**

**_*Feudal Era ~With Inu-tachi*_**

"Damn it!" Inuyasha bellowed as he took down yet another demon with the Wind Scar. Honestly, how many more demons were going to spontaneously decide to attack them on their way back to the village of Edo?

This was the twelfth time in two days that this odd occurrence had, well, occurred. They just couldn't figure out why these demons all of a sudden wanted to attack them. It just didn't make any sense. And these idiotic demons weren't helping them any by blocking the road back to the small village. At this rate, it would take them two weeks instead of the normal two days to get home, and only God knows how much trouble Kagome could get into until then.

"When the hell are these damn demons going to leave us the hell alone?" Inuyasha yelled out to no one in particular.

He heard Sango sigh from the other end of the clearing as she hoisted her Hiraikotsu back upon her shoulder before hearing her footsteps getting louder and louder until they stopped right behind them.

"It does seem odd. Even with all the exterminating jobs I've been on I've never seen twelve demons attack in two days for no apparent reason. It just doesn't make any sense."

Jingling alerted the two to Miroku's presence. "I must agree with my beautiful Sango. I was thinking the…"

"HENTAI!" Sango yelled before Miroku received yet another bump on his head by the Hiraikotsu.

"Bouzou I swear if you do that again I will cut your damn arm off and then you won't have to worry about that f'ing curse anymore!" Inuyasha let out frustrated.

"He said that the last two times too." Shippo muttered to Kirara who, in return, meowed in agreement.

Growling could be heard from Inuyasha as he turned to glare at Shippo while cracking his clawed hands.

"What did you say kit?" He asked murderously.

A chase was about to ensue between dog and fox but a bop from Miroku's staff stopped that little incident rather quickly.

"Inuyasha now is not the time to be picking a fight with Shippo. We need to come up with a possible explanation as to why this is happening." The monk explained.

Silence encompassed the group as they tried to come up with a logical reason as to the current wave of attacks. It only took two minutes for Inuyasha's thought processes to stop and his incessant foot tapping to set in.

"Keh, this is stupid. Let's just head on back to the old hag's already. We're behind enough as it is." Without even looking to see if they were following, Inuyasha took off down the path towards Edo.

"Well they can't be after the jewel shards because they're with Kagome right?" Shippo questioned as the rest of the group trued to keep up with the hanyou's pace.

Sango gave him a soft smile to let him know that he was right, but kept silent so as to not upset their hanyou companion.

But wouldn't you know it, not even an hour later, yet another random demon decided to attack the group. It was a dirty and _very_ smelly pig demon, clad in nothing but a pair of hakama and its sword.

Tired of being halted so many times on their way back to the village, Inuyasha did what he would normally do in an intense battle; jump right in without thinking up a strategy.

"Should we get out there and help him or let him blow off some steam?" Sango wondered aloud as she turned to ask Miroku's thoughts on the subject.

"Mi…Miroku I don't like that look on your face." His face was twisted in a way that looked thoughtful, but also like he had some sort of sadistic, possibly stupid plan conjured in the depths of his brain.

"Miroku, what are you thinking?" She asked.

He didn't answer for a few moments as he gazed out at Inuyasha fighting what seemed to be a seemingly easy battle. Then he did the most reckless thing that he had probably ever done.

Miroku ran towards the pig demon just as it had jumped way from Inuyasha and was preparing to go engage in swordplay again. Just as the demon sprang after Inuyasha again, Miroku was before him, brandishing his staff, and within the blink of an eye the demon's sword was thrown to the other end of the road and the pig was being pinned against a tree, Miroku's staff at his throat and sutras mere inches from its face.

"What the hell are you thinking monk?" Inuyasha yelled irately as he ran up to the pair and was preparing to chop off the pig's head with Tessaiga.

"No Inuyasha, I have a better plan. Perhaps we could get some information out of him as to why there have been so many attacks."

Yet another bump appeared on Miroku's head courtesy of the Hiraikotsu.

"That's what your plan was? How stupid can you be? You almost got yourself killed!"

"Sango, I believe we should discuss how stupid I am later. For now, I think we should focus on getting answers from this demon."

"As if I would ever tell you anything!" A squeaky voice declared.

All heads turned to face the pig demon in their mitts. Surely that little high pitched voice didn't come from this demon.

"Keh, you really are a pipsqueak if you talk like that. You must've not reached maturity yet if you're talking is that high. You just trying to be all tough are ya? Well if you don't give us answers there is going to be a big damn fight on your hands. One that I can guarantee you won't survive." Our hanyou said threateningly.

Miroku could feel his staff move from the huge gulp the pig took due to his nervousness. They could all tell he was scared, but they didn't know in which direction the pig would want to choose to move further down; the one that let him live if he answered all their questions correctly, or the one that led down towards destruction, which basically included giving up his life.

What happened next surprised them all .The demon suddenly started wailing and squealing its head off. And throughout the entire time, between all the squeals and wails, he pleaded over and over again for his life.

After almost two whole minutes of his bawling, a slap echoed throughout the clearing and a bright red mark appeared upon the pig's cheek, followed by a look of shock.

"Your damn yowling is hurting my ears. Now I want to know why the hell you were attacking us!" Inuyasha asked through clenched teeth.

"I…I…I was tricked into it! I was told to keep you occupied!" The pig sputtered out quickly.

"Why were you trying to keep us occupied?" Shippo asked curiously.

"That information is for me to know and you to never find out." He spat out.

Shippo took things into his own hands then and threw one of his spinning tops, only to have it land on top of the pig's head, burst into a bigger form, and torture the poor demon; making him once again cry out in pain.

"Ow, ow, ow! Ok, I'll talk! I'll talk! I wasn't told the reason to keep you occupied. All I know is that I had to keep you here as long as I could so that she could put her plan in motion! Then if you didn't kill me I was supposed to wait until that weird blue floating snake thing came to signal me to retreat and let you pass."

That last sentence made their blood grow cold, especially Inuyasha's.

_"Weird blue things? Those have to be Kikyo's soul stealers, but why would she want to detour us?"_ He wondered.

Growling low in his throat due to all of the frustration, Inuyasha grabbed the demon by his neck and hoisted him up higher onto the tree.

"This woman you speak of, did she have dark hair and was she wearing priestess clothes?"

The pig, fearing for his life once again, nodded his head furiously before adding the icing to the already layered cake.

"She did. And for some reason she smelled like graveyard soil and dark magic. I could only detect the slightest hint of her natural scent. I wouldn't have agreed to do anything but she swore if I didn't she would kill me right there on the spot." He sputtered out.

"Kikyo!" "Kikyo is behind this?" "What?" "Meow?" Inuyasha heard each member of the group say simultaneously.

Inuyasha's grip tightened on the pig's throat once again.

"Any other information we need to know about pipsqueak?"

"O…O…O…Only thing I can think of is that I was hired two and a half days ago to do this and my only reward was my life if I succeeded."

Tired of all this stupid shit, and the pig's abnormally high voice, Inuyasha threw him down to the opposite end of the road where his sword lay, telling him to get out of there and not to expect him to be so kind again.

Wanted to make a quick escape, the demon picked up his sword and began to walk away, but one last piece of information nagged him from the corner of his mind. He turned back to the group, who hadn't moved a single step and yelled back to them.

"Hey! If it's any consolation, when I was leaving the clearing where she managed to get my services I heard her tell one of those snake things that now it was time to head back to her village and stop her copy, whatever that meant."

Yet another bout of cold blood overcame the group due to this startling information.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Shippo asked nervously.

Sango just nodded her head in response to his question, to stunned to actually speak.

"If he said she left two days ago and Kagome left two days ago, then that means that she is already there by now." Miroku added.

"Then what the hell are we all standing around for? Come on, we've gotta get back to the old hag's village and stop her!" The hanyou yelled back to the group as he started to take off, but was cut off by Sango.

"Do you think Kikyo would hurt Kagome? But why? Kagome hasn't done anything wrong. And Kikyo's never tried to harm Kagome."

_"Shows what you know. Guess Kagome didn't tell her about that little 'almost getting killed' detail when she took our half of the jewel. I sure as hell am not gonna let that happen again."_ He vowed in his mind.

"I don't give a shit what your theories are. All I know is that we need to get back to the village now so that if she does have something planned I can prevent it."

With that, Inuyasha left the rest of his pack to get back to the village by themselves. He would make better time without them tagging along. Besides that, he didn't want them to see how worried he actually was. With each tree he passed, his worry for the futuristic miko only grew worse and worse. If this really was Kikyo behind this, and not some sort of trap, what was her point in all of this?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He didn't need to be thinking of this right now, he need to focus on getting back to the well before anything bad happened.

_"Don't worry Kagome, I'm coming for you."_

* * *

**A/N ~ Special EARLY update to make up for my late one. Hope you all like it!**

**This chapter is dedicated to Kagomethebeautifulmiko ~ Finally Inuyasha has re-entered the story!**

**REMEMBER NEXT UPDATE WON'T BE FOR ANOTHER WEEK AND A HALF!**

**PROUD TO BE A KAEDE/GRAMPS SUPPORTER!**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED ~ COOKIES APPRECIATED! (Especially Peanut Butter!)**


	20. Three, Four, Oh No Not More

**Curiosity - Chapter 20 - "Three, Four, Oh No Not More."**

**_*Modern Era ~ Higurashi Living Room*_**

It had been about two hours since everyone had arrived from the Feudal Era and Suki had joined them for the night. Throughout the entire time many questions had popped up about the various things in the living room, which Kagome tried to answer to answer to the best of her ability so that they could understand what all of the modern conveniences did.

The real problem came up though when Gramps had turned the television on in an attempt to take his mind off of certain things. Immediately Kagome was cornered by Kikyo, being accused of holding humans hostage, shrinking them to such a small size, and holding them hostage for her family's entertainment. Even Touga had attempted to slice open the television to "free" all of the people trapped inside. It took Kagome almost half an hour to get them calmed down enough to believe that there weren't actually people trapped in her house and the people were in fact normal size so there was nothing to worry about. But it did take another thirty minutes to explain how much humans had advanced so much that pictures could be sent through the air and end up right on the screen. Even Kaede had to help with some of the descriptions for things that the group didn't quite comprehend. Although they said they understood, Kagome didn't think they got the gist of exactly what she meant after her long winded explanation.

Kagome hadn't even realized how late it had gotten until she looked outside and saw the sun begin to set. Had it really been that long since she had brought everyone here? She figured she would have a lot to put up with tonight, considering Inuyasha should be coming back to get her by now.

_"Come to think of it, I did spend two days at Kaede's hut dealing with Kikyo. Normally he would have been back by the second day I was gone. I wonder why he didn't show up yet. Is he okay?" _ Kagome thought a she turned to gaze into the kitchen.

_"He's gonna be mad enough as it is with me spending so much time here. Maybe I could cushion the blow with a nice big bowl of ramen."_ She thought to herself as she rose to head into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Kikyo asked from her spot in the corner of the room.

"I figured I should start on dinner. Knowing Inuyasha he is usually here to try and collect me before my third day home and I thought that it would be nice to have something for him to eat when he gets here." Kagome replied as she continued towards the kitchen.

A hand grasping her shoulder stopped her in her tracks. "That will not be necessary; he won't be here tonight so I will be making dinner."

Turning to face Kikyo, Kagome shrugged her hand off before looking at her confusingly, "What do you mean he won't be coming? And how can you make dinner?" She asked while she followed Kikyo into the kitchen only to have the one thing she thought they were done with come back to bite her.

Everyone in the room was startled out of their fascination with the television when they heard a loud boom come from the other side of the room. And what did they find?

Kagome,

once again,

thrown into a wall.

All were silent as footsteps could be heard frantically running down the stairs.

"Hey is everything alright? It sounded like something exploded down here. Oh my gosh Kagome are you okay?" Souta spoke quickly before running over to his sister to help her up.

"Stupid Kikyo and her stupid sutras throwing me into walls." Kagome muttered under her breath.

Souta's eye grew wide at that moment. Had this woman done this to his sister before? Was that why her arm was broken now? He grit his teeth angrily at that thought; now fighting the urge not to run over to the cold dead shell that was standing in the kitchen doorway grinning like the cat who caught the mouse. He couldn't hold off the feeling for long though, hearing his sister groan in pain (even if it was only a little) broke him.

Gramps watched as his grandson started to stalk his way over towards Kikyo and he could tell what he was going to do, recognizing the look upon his face from one of memories past.

"Don't do that Souta, who's to say that she can't throw you into a wall as well? Besides, what good will it do to hurt someone who can't feel anything?" He asked while looking over the top of his newspaper towards the woman that claimed to be his granddaughter's incarnation.

"I guess you're right Gramps, but that still doesn't mean that I'm not angry at her for roughing up sis. If anyone messes with her, they have to deal with me when their through." He declared while taking on a very Inuyasha like pose.

Giggling brought everyone's attention back to the little girl still playing with the dogs on the floor.

"Soda silly. You no act like Ya-ya." Suki giggled out, before getting distracted by the design on Izayoi's kimono.

"Suki is right Souta, quit acting like Inuyasha." His sister said.

"But sis, Inuyasha told me to protect you when he isn't around! I'm just doing what he said!"

"That doesn't mean you should go after Kikyo stupid. If you did that and Inuyasha found out you would have Tessaiga through you so fast that you wouldn't have been able to see it coming." Kagome replied. She really needed to get this idea out of his head before he did something rash that would get him on Inuyasha's bad side. That certainly wasn't a place that her brother wanted to be.

While Kagome, Gramps, and even Kaede were trying to convince Sota not to go in and beat up Kikyo, Suki silently stood up and made her way closer to Izayoi to get a better look.

Izayoi noticed Suki at her feet delicately touching the butterflies upon her kimono as if she were petting them. A small smile appeared on her face as she got stuck in a memory; the world around her slowly faded away and Suki's form turned into that of a young Inuyasha. He had always loved to pet the butterflies on her kimono, even went as far as to try and catch one for a pet.

No one noticed how Izayoi's eyes had glazed over or that she was petting Suki's head lovingly. Nor did they notice the lone tear that flowed down her cheek, that is, all except her mate. A hand grazing her arm brought her out of her reverie and the soothing purr-like sound from Touga eased her oncoming sadness of the son she missed so much.

Giving a small nod to her mate to show that she was okay, Izayoi reached down and pulled Suki into her lap.

"I like buwerfies, they pretty. You pretty too Ya-ya's mommy!" Suki smiled brightly at Izayoi before yet another thing distracted her young mind. This time though, it was the long pieces of fur that covered both of Touga's shoulders. Curiosity getting the better of her, she was about to touch the soft looking fur but thought better. Her mother always taught her to ask before petting an animal. So she climbed up further onto Izayoi's lap and whispered something into her ear that not even Touga could hear.

Quirking an eyebrow in interest as to why a beaming smile had broken out on his mate's face, he wondered why she was suddenly so entertained before barely catching her telling the small child that she would have to ask him herself.

Wide blue eyes stared into the calm amber ones of the demon Lord before looking down and mumbling out her question.

"I am sorry young one, but you will have to speak up so that I may hear you."

Blue eyes turned to him again, only this time filled with nervousness and just a hint of fear. Was she afraid that he would yell at her? Touga certainly didn't know; he hardly had any experience with children, especially little girls.

"Can I please pet you?" Suki whispered out, still appearing nervous at what his answer would be.

A hearty laugh erupted throughout the room startling everyone from their conversations. To Touga, this was the cutest question he had ever heard come from such a young one's mouth. It was certainly entertaining him, he never knew children could be so….carefree with their questioning. Then again not many children had asked him questions either; he usually scared him off because of how fearsome he appeared, so this little one intrigued him earnestly.

_"Perhaps her being around Inuyasha has caused her not to be so weary of me."_

Seeing Suki begin to leave his mate's lap, apparently thinking that she had been denied, Touga quickly scooped her up and deposited her in his lap.

Taking her tiny hands into his huge clawed ones Touga answered her seemingly simple question.

"You may 'pet' me as you say, but you have to answer a question for me first. How old are you?" He was, after all, genuinely intrigued by this girl, and she was so small he wondered how old she actually was. Because in demon society, a demon child of this size would be about twenty-five years old and he knew humans didn't age that slowly.

Pulling her hands out of Touga's, Suki gazed at them for a moment before tilting her head back to smile at the inu youkai.

"I'm this many!" She stated proudly as she held up both of her hands showing all ten of her fingers.

Touga was about to voice his amazement at how slow humans grow but he was stopped when Kagome came over and put Suki's left hand down and turned down her thumb and pinky finger on her right.

"Now how old are you?" Kagome asked.

"This many!" The young girl stated proudly again before having the urge to pet Touga's tails took over once again.

Letting out an airy laugh, Kagome turned away and checked on Kikyo in the kitchen, mindful of keeping plenty of space between her and the door before turning to face her family and guests.

"Well, since Kikyo seems to be handling herself with making dinner, I think I'll go and have a bath."

"Kagome are you sure you don't want me to go in there and beat her up? Cause if not you must be crazy." Her brother huffed out.

"Yes I'm sure. And if I'm crazy then you are annoying."

"I am not!"

"Are too!" She yelled as she headed upstairs.

"Yeah right, you're more annoying than I am. It wouldn't be like this if you were a boy."

"No way! And if you were a girl we wouldn't be having this conversation either!" Kagome yelled out of the bathroom before closing the door and beginning to figure out how to work around her bandaged arm.

About an hour later Kagome was done with her bath and dinner was ready. Kagome was amazed that Kikyo had known how to use the stove and other modern appliances, but then she remembered that Kikyo retained some of the memories from Kagome's life so it all made some sort of sense.

The resurrected priestess had decided to make a traditional stew along with a couple of other modern delicacies. Once everyone had their share, they began to eat their dinner in silence, enjoying the meal that Kikyo cooked for them.

While Kagome was eating though, she noticed the taste of a spice that they normally didn't put in the stew.

"Kikyo, did you put curry in this?"

Not even bothering to look away from her plate Kikyo answered her. "Of course I did. Who wouldn't put it in a stew stupid girl?"

Ignoring the demeaning comment, Kagome got up from her seat and began pulling boxes and containers out of the cabinet just to the left of the stove.

"What are you doing child?" Kaede asked.

"I figure I should get some ramen ready for when Inuyasha comes. He won't eat the stew because he REALLY doesn't like curry and I figure the ramen will somehow cushion the blow when he finds out about his parents being alive again."

_"He doesn't like curry anymore? He used to love it when he was little, wouldn't even eat his food unless it had some on it."_ Izayoi thought to herself as picked at her food.

"That will not be necessary girl for he will not be here tonight as you assume. He will not make it here until tomorrow night at the latest." Kikyo informed the group.

Stopping what she was doing, Kagome finally realized what Kikyo was up to.

"You had this planned the entire time didn't you? You've been keeping Inuyasha occupied the entire time so that you could get me to break and tell you what you wanted to know. I'd even wager that you're keeping him occupied with demons right now to delay him."

"You're not as stupid as I thought girl." The elder girl spat out only to find her face suddenly covered in stew. She discovered that it had come from none other than her reincarnation's little brother.

"Don't call my sister stupid!" Souta shouted he was promptly shoved back into his chair by Gramps. He was really started to not like Kikyo.

Sniffling brought his attention to Suki, who was sitting beside him.

"No, no Ya-ya today?" She whimpered out to no one in particular.

Seeing that if no one did something they would have a crying three year old on their hands, Kagome promptly gathered Suki up in her good arm and made her way to the staircase.

"Oh, someone looks like their tired. I think it's time for a certain someone to go beddy-bye." She cooed.

"Suki sleep in Gooey's room?" She asked sleepily.

Laughing again and nodding to confirm that she could indeed sleep in her room, Kagome made her way upstairs to put Suki to bed, noticing that Kaede was following behind her.

"Ya-ya be here morrow Gooey? Can he play with me?" The tired girl yawned out.

"Yes he'll be here tomorrow and I'm positive that he would love to play with you."

Another yawn escaped the child upon Kagome's hip. "Ma-maw play too?" Suki mumbled out.

"Aye child, I'll play with ye as well." Kaede replied while lovingly patting her head.

By time they made their way to her room, Suki was already asleep so Kagome, with the help of Kaede, changed Suki into her pajamas and laid her in Kagome's bed.

After tucking her in and kissing her goodnight, the two priestesses made their way out the door and back to the others.

"Ye brother seems to be very protective of thee child."

"Yeah, sometimes I wish he was a girl though that way he wouldn't do that. And so I would have someone to go shopping with. But I don't think he is magically going to turn into one anytime soon." Kagome responded.

Kaede let out a chuckle as a memory swept through her mind. "Did ye know that Kikyo used to wish that I was a boy?"

Kagome stopped in her tracks and looked at her incredulously. "Seriously? Why would she want that?"

"So that I could do the hunting, she never did like to kill innocent animals. She would often recruit one of the village men to do our hunting for us."

An idea popped into Kagome's head then and she put her good arm around Kaede's shoulders.

"Well, I vote that we switch siblings. Kikyo can have Souta and I'll take you. Besides, you are so much more behaved than he is anyway. Plus I get along with you so much better." Kagome giggled out.

Chuckling along with her as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Kaede took Kagome's hand in hers and led her back into the dining room.

"I believe that is a plan child."

* * *

**A/N ~ Lol, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tried to make it longer to make up for the slowness in updating lately. PLEASE REMEMBER I will finish this story and update when I can, but 4-H is rapidly approaching and I really have to get my projects done and make sure the dog and poultry shows are in order.**

**Before anyone asks ~ Yes, I did spell some things differently when Suki talked because she is three and there are just some words that she can't say.**

**And yes – she does call Souta "Soda" and Kagome "Gooey".**

**Has anyone noticed that in the search on FF there is not a "Gramps" character option yet there is a "Kagome's Mom" option? I found this odd, they should have a Gramps option too.**

**QUESTION ~ This is totally unrelated but where am I supposed to go to ask for help finding a story I can't remember the name of? I know I can't create a new story and just ask or I can get reported. Message me or comment if you can answer.**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**

**COOKIES MAKE ME TYPE MORE!**

**PROUD TO BE A KAEDE/GRAMPS SUPPORTER! ~ ARE YOU?**


	21. Five, Six, A Midnight Mix

**Curiosity – Chapter 21 - "Five, Six, A Midnight Mix"**

It had been about three hours since everyone had gone to bed. At first, Gramps thought that there wouldn't be enough beds for everyone to sleep in and he would have to give up his room, but that problem was automatically solved by Kagome. She had apparently been thinking about the sleeping arrangements for a while.

Much to Gramps relief, he and Souta kept their rooms while Suki, of course, got Kagome's room. Touga and Izayoi shared the guest bedroom and Kaede got Mama Higurashi's room which left Kagome with the couch downstairs. Being dead, Kikyo didn't need sleep and decided to go out and roam around the woods surrounding the shrine, but not before swearing on her own grave that she wouldn't hurt anyone in this time. (As per Kagome's request.)

All were now asleep in the cozy house, well, that is everyone except Kaede. She just couldn't get her mind to settle down no matter what she did. Every time her mind would settle down enough for her to go to sleep a single thought kept darting around inside her mind, pestering her until she was fully awake again.

_"What if it really is him?" _She questioned herself. _"The way he kept glancing over at me today with a certain gleam in his eye, like he had finally gotten the toy he always wanted. No, it couldn't be him not after all this time. Besides that he has a daughter and a son. The Yasuhiro I knew only had a son. But what if it truly is him?"_

Finally deciding that she just couldn't take it anymore, Kaede got up from her bed and made her way to the door. It took her a couple minutes to get the door open, she wasn't used to doors that didn't slide open, but when she finally did manage to twist the door knob and pull the door open a little ways she had to cringe.

The door hadn't even been opened enough for her to get through before it decided to squeak. Kaede quickly glanced through the doorway to make sure that her little nighttime adventure wouldn't be discovered.

Seeing that the small hallway was free and clear, she opened up the door a bit more, just enough so that she would be able to slip out easily and made her way out into the house.

Double checking once again to make sure that the coast was clear, Kaede slowly made her way to her left, towards the door at the end of the hall that she had seen Yasuhiro enter in to earlier that evening. But she was stopped dead in her tracks when she heard noises coming from down stairs.

Coldness went down her spine then, making her fear that her little escapade had woken Kagome up. Thankfully she heard the young priestess say something about her math being so complicated which eased her mind greatly as she continued down the hall.

It felt like it had taken forever, but finally she was in front of Yasuhiro's door. Unfortunately yet another bout of fear shot through her then. What if she was making a mistake? Was she only making a fool out of herself by waking this man in the middle of the night simply to see if this was the man whom she had known in memories past? Surely she didn't know, but there was only one way to find out.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Kaede hesitantly reached an arm out and, as softly as she was able, knocked on the door twice.

What truly surprised her was when the door had opened not even a second later to reveal the man in question inside.

"Oh, good evening Kaede. I see you couldn't sleep either. Would you like to come in and chat a bit?" He asked kindly while opening his door a bit more to invite her inside.

Suddenly finding her throat very dry, Kaede could only nod as she quietly stepped inside Yasuhiro's room. She looked around for a moment before laying her single eye on a piece that was setting upon his nightstand.

Forgetting about the man watching her every move, Kaede inched her was towards the small table next to the bed and picked up the small trinket lovingly, cradling it in her knurled hands. Yet another memory had decided to pour over her.

"This… this is the ring that Hiro gave me when…"

"When we were married here so long ago." Yasuhiro finished for her from behind. "I was twenty-nine and you were twenty-six, it was exactly a year later after the day we met when we were married. You thought it was an odd custom, the trading of rings, but you went through with it anyway; just to make me happy. And when we had to separate four years later, we traded our rings. That way we would always remember each other and the love we shared." He finished for her; he could tell that she was having a hard time comprehending all of this, much like himself actually.

A surprised chocolate eye turned to look into loving pools of deep, dark violet.

"You mean it really is you my darling Hiro?" She asked hesitantly as she raised a hand to cup his cheek.

A warm smile spread across his face thanks to her touch. He raised his own hand to cradle hers while he answered her with love practically overflowing from his eyes. "Yes my beautiful Kaede, it is really me."

Tears escaped her eye then, just by hearing those words. Without a moment's notice, her lips were occupying his own in what could only be described as a joyful reunion kiss, followed by another more passionate kiss that, to them, felt as if they were making up for all of the kisses that were lost throughout the past years of loneliness.

After five whole minutes of lip-locks, Kaede and Yasuhiro parted only to then find themselves engulfed in one another's embrace.

"It has been driving me crazy ever since I saw you. I kept wondering if it truly was you my beautiful Kaede."

"I was the same way Hiro. That was why I couldn't sleep, not until I knew if this was real or if I was just imagining things." She replied with a smile in her voice.

"You have no idea how much I have missed you Kaede." He whispered into her hair. "There have been so many things that I've yearned for over the years. Seeing your beautiful face every morning, watching how good you are with your villagers when they were ill, your wonderful cooking, holding you just like this while we sit under the boughs of a tree watching the sunset, you playing with Satoru…"

Kaede's heart had stopped with that last part he mentioned. All of the other things had been wonderful, things she had missed as well, but when she thought of their son she could only think of the woman that had brought Suki over earlier that day.

Feeling his long lost love stiffen, Yasuhiro took a step back to gaze into her emotionless face.

"What is wrong Kaede? Do you feel ill?" He questioned.

"You moved on." She whispered.

"I don't understand. Moved on from what?"

"The woman that was here earlier today, Suki's mother, she called you 'Daddy'."

Understanding dawned on him when he finally understood what made her so self-conscience.

"Dearest, if you are thinking that I remarried you are mistaken. About a year after Satoru and I left the Feudal Era I noticed how lonely he was and that he didn't really have anyone to play with so I adopted Aisha. I even went so far as to show her the few pictures I had of you so she would know what her mother looked like. You know there isn't anyone for me but you."

Kaede let out the breath she had unconsciously been holding in and leaned in for another kiss from her long missed husband.

After parting again, Yasuhiro led them both over to his bed so that they could sit down and talk. He could tell that his wife had wanted to ask him something because she was biting her bottom lip nervously.

_"A trait that Kagome also inherited from her."_ He thought to himself, but was brought out of his reverie when he noticed Kaede began to feel around for something underneath her kimono top, only to pull it out a minute later. It was her husband's wedding ring tied to a leather rope and bound around her neck.

"I always wore it around my neck, that way you would be close to my heart." She began. Yasuhiro could tell she was nervous by the way she was fingering the ring.

"Was he happy? Did he grow up like we planned? Did he learn all of the good morals and values just as we were taught?"

Placing a hand on his wife's shoulder to get her attention, he answered her questions lovingly.

"He did. Satoru learned all of the values we grew up with and as he got older he had more and more friends. He was so happy, I made sure of that. There were times when he missed you terribly and wished that you were here with him but I helped him through it. You would have been so proud of him Kaede! He became a doctor, just like you."

She smiled the whole time he had explained everything and when he was done another thought popped through her mind.

"This makes Kagome my granddaughter doesn't it?" She asked quietly.

"That it does my darling, that it does."

They ended up chatting about various ups and downs in their time apart from each other for the next hour. Yawns had begun to escape the both of them and Kaede decided that it was time for her to head back to her room. Giving her husband a chaste kiss on his cheek, Kaede stood and began making her way towards the door when a tug on her sleeve stopped her.

"Don't leave Kaede; you can sleep in here for the night. Only God knows how long I have yearned to hold you in my arms again." He spoke gently.

"But what if we get caught? How will we explain something like this?"

Yasuhiro didn't pay any attention to her questions as he stood himself and pulled back the sheets on the bed and then pull her back to lie on the bed with him as he wound his arms around her. Moments later he began laying butterfly kisses along the concave of her neck and moving his hand slowly down until it laid upon her thigh.

Even though it felt wonderful to Kaede, she had to stop him. "Hiro, we can't do anything like that. We're too old for such things."

He didn't respond to her for another minute, wanting to savor the long missed taste of her skin. When he was done, his hand found hers and he clutched it as if it were his only lifeline.

"Darling, we are not too old, we are as young as we want to feel. But it doesn't matter. What only does matter right now is you and me being together again." He whispered before giving one final kiss before drifting off into dreamland.

* * *

**A/N ~ SUPER EARLY update for all of my WONDERFUL readers out there. Hopefully this makes up for everything lately!**

**BIG SHOUTOUT to ALL OF MY GREAT AND AWESOME REVIEWERS AND COMMENTERS! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!**

**For those of you that are confused – Kaede and Gramps (Yasuhiro) had a son they named Satoru – he married Mrs. Higurashi (her name will come later) and then they had Kagome. So yes, Kaede is Kagome's grandma in this fic and Kagome's dad's name is Satoru.**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS! ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**

**Name meanings ~**

***Yasuhiro ~ ****1) "calm and leisurely," 2) "most calm," 3) "most respectful, and 4) "abundant tranquility."**

***Satoru ~ 1( "daybreak" 2( "enlightened" 3( "fast learner" 4( knowledgeable" 5( "perceptive" 6( "understanding" and 7( "wise"**

***Kaede ~ "maple"**


	22. Seven, Eight, To Catch A Mate

**Curiosity – Chapter 22 - "Seven, Eight, To Catch A Mate"**

The night air was full of strange sounds that his demon ears had never experienced before. But then again this entire time was filled with bizarre and fascinating things that even his advanced demon mind couldn't begin to comprehend.

One thing was for sure though, he was greatly impressed with this sleeping mat Kagome had called a "mattress"; he had never seen his mate sleep so soundly before. Well, that wasn't true; she does sleep quite soundly when she is cuddled up against my true for.

"_It is too bad I cannot transform here for her, I know she would enjoy that. Perhaps I will have one of these 'mattress's' commissioned when we return home, it could be made of silk and stuffed with feathers. At least then she would sleep peacefully if I am ever gone, even though that won't be anytime soon."_ Touga thought to himself as he glanced out the window.

Judging from the position of the moon in the sky, it had been almost four hours since everyone had gone to bed. That is, everyone except Touga, for even though he was in bed he couldn't bring himself to go to sleep for one insignificant reason.

He was afraid. The once great Western Lord was scared. Touga was terrified that the entire situation was only some sort of dream. Was this some kind a joke that death played on you? Were they making him live his wildest dreams just to see his sadness when this prank is over? And what is that noise?

"_Wait, that doesn't have anything to do with this, but what is that whirring sound? It is quite distracting."_

Before he could rise and investigate the suspicious noise, his attention was caught by Izayoi slightly stirring in the crook of his arm. She had always had some sort of sixth sense and could tell when something was bothering him, even in her sleep.

Chocolate eyes blearily blinked open to remove the sleep from her eyes as she nuzzled closer to her mate.

"What is it my dearest? What is it that has you worked up so? Are you worried that this is only a dream again my darling?" She asked while tiresomely raising her hand to cup his cheek.

She felt him smile underneath her palm. "You have always known what has bothered me my mate, but there is something else as well. I hear a strange noise which I believe I will go investigate. I do not wish to be attacked while we are here."

Nodding her head in agreement, Izayoi caressed his cheek one last time before removing it so that she could burrow back into the tail that Touga had detached to keep his mate warm. Giving his mate one last fang filled smile, Touga slowly, so as not to wake his mate again, stood up and made his way out the door and into the hallway.

Thankfully his demonic heritage allowed him to slip down the hall quickly and quietly without disturbing anyone else's slumber. He was surprised to hear voices coming from Yasuhiro's room though. Shouldn't people his age be asleep by this time? Better yet, who was he talking to?

Deciding that it wasn't his place to be listening in, Touga began to make his way down the stairs towards the whirring noise, but not before hearing part of the conversation going on in Yasuhiro's room thanks once again to his demonic heritage.

"_So, the elderly priestess is Kagome's grandmother. How interesting. It will be fascinating to see how tomorrow plays out with this discovery."_

Lights from the living room caught his attention as he neared the bottom of the steps. As he neared closer to the room, the annoying sound became louder and louder. Now it was stopping and starting again as if it was doing something and then stopping only to start over again.

When he rounded the corner to enter the room to stop whatever demon was creating such a nuisance he was stopped by a, well, by his standards it could be construed as a strange and humorous sight.

All throughout the room there was a menagerie of papers and books scattered about the floor. In the middle of the room sat Kagome upon a chair and in front of her was a table with a strange contraption on top of it. He soon found out that this…whatever it was… was the very thing making the noise.

It didn't appear to be a demon, nor did it have the scent of one, but it seemed that Kagome was getting frustrated with this thing and he felt it was his duty to stop any fight that would ensue.

"_It is, after all, my duty to protect my son's pack while he is away. Perhaps this encounter will give me the chance to learn more about Kagome and find out how much she does for my son. I will need to observe if she is worthy of being Inuyasha's mate."_

Kagome didn't seem to notice when Touga came up beside her, she was too enthralled with the material in front of her. Why was it so hard to sew with one hand? Weren't machines supposed to make things easier?

"_Guess I'll just have to sew this by hand, hopefully I will have this done by morning."_ Kagome thought while fingering the white fabric before her.

"Is this demon bothering you?"

A small scream escaped the young miko as she jumped a little before seeing that it was only Touga standing beside her.

"Um, what demon are you talking about?" She questioned before realizing what he was asking about. "Oh, you mean the sewing machine! It isn't a demon, it's just a device to help woman sew things together quicker. But I'm afraid I won't be able to use it due to my arm so I'll just have to sew this by hand." She muttered as she unplugged the sewing machine and began putting it away.

Touga could see how much trouble she was having lifting the strange contraption off the table so he immediately helped her set it off into the closet.

"You mean to say this thing isn't a demon?" Touga asked after double checking to make sure that the metal thing wasn't breathing or had been sealed with sutras.

"Yes I'm sure, besides if it was Inuyasha would kill me." Kagome giggled out as she sat back down on the couch.

Touga stood there for a moment, not exactly knowing what to do. Were customs different in this time from his? Thankfully his mind eased when Kagome moved one of her stacks of papers from beside her so that he could sit down. After he did, they just sat in silence for a few minutes, she sewing away at the fabric in her grasp and him watching her every move.

"What is it you are sewing?"

"Hmm? Oh, I was just whipping up another white kimono top for Inuyasha. He always gets so many rips in the one he has." She answered while she kept sewing. "There, it's done."

Kagome handed the kimono to Touga to inspect while she put her supplies away. As soon as his clawed fingers touched the fabric he noticed something.

"This is not fire rat."

Plopping down on the floor beside the white dog and her pups, Kagome gathered a stack of papers into her lap before replying to him.

"I know, but sometimes he gets so many rips in the one he has, so I came up with the idea to make him another one to wear while the original one is repairing itself. The funny thing is that he has never noticed when I switch them out. I always make sure that any new one I make gets covered in his scent somehow. This is the fourth one I have made for him if I remember right."

She didn't notice, but Touga's eyes widened slightly with this new information. _"She is doing all the things a demoness would for her mate; cooking, dressing his wounds, and now sewing him clothes. Does she even realize it? Perhaps my son and this woman have a deeper bond than I thought, but what about his bond with Kikyo?"_

Laying the kimono top off to the side, Touga slid himself down to sit on the floor next to Kagome. Wondering what all of the papers surrounding him were about, he picked up the first one he saw and instantly regretted it, slightly blushing as he sat it back down. Did they really teach children in such excruciating detail about this sort of thing by paper now instead of by mouth? Why would any adult teach about reproduction in this way?

He was brought from his thoughts by a small yip and a bump to his arm. It was the bigger white dog, the mother. From what his senses could tell him, the dog could sense that he was her alpha and wished to please him, so of course he would bring his clawed hand to her head and pet her fondly to show that he was pleased.

"_That is odd. This dog's aura feels like one I have been near before, but that cannot be possible could it? If I study it long enough, it almost feels as if it's a familial tie instead of that of a pack member. How interesting."_

"Tinkerbell don't bother Touga." Kagome tried to stop her dog, but a thought stopped her movements. "Touga, what exactly are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be upstairs with Izayoi?"

Never taking his hand from Tinkerbell's head he answered her. "I am here because of course I heard the noise and I am curious as to why a human is up so late at night. Do not all humans need as much sleep as I have been led to believe?"

"Yes humans need a lot of sleep, but I'm not exactly an ordinary human. I am used to staying up late and studying long into the night. Inuyasha doesn't really approve of my schooling and he doesn't like it when I study as we travel which means I can only read when we stop. I usually wait until he falls into a light sleep before I pull out my books. Plus I always have good old sugar and caffeine to pep me up." She picked up yet another Red Bull and took a swig when she finished.

Silence entranced the room once again while Touga rolled her reply through his mind. From what knowledge he had of human education, only the highest of royal families were educated, but even in such cases they merely learned to read, write, and local history. Yet from what he saw written on all of these papers Kagome was learning those things and so much more. She was being taught almost everything under the sun except blacksmithing. He voiced his question about this, wanting to know why she had to learn so many things.

It took her half an hour, but she explained everything about how everyone had to learn about all these things for twelve years before they could go to college to specifically learn about certain fields of work, such as a doctor or archaeology. Kagome also explained how completing such studies brought honor to the student's families, but what she told him next surprised him completely.

"Usually I wouldn't have so much work, but I'm…" She hesitated, not sure whether or not to tell him. "Well, do you promise not to tell any of my friends, especially Inuyasha?"

One of Touga's eyebrow's arched out of interest before sternly nodding once, as if he was almost wary of what she was about to tell him.

"I'm not just going to public school. I sent away for all of the work that I would have to do in my next grade, so I am basically taking two years of school at once. I figured if we don't get the jewel completed by the time I get out of school I'll have already done next year's work, which means I'll be able to spend most of next year tracking down the jewel which would make Inuyasha very happy. He doesn't much like it when I come home for tests."

A rarity occurred then; Touga's mind had stalled – stopped – gone copout in a matter of milliseconds. This was only the third time this incident had befallen him; the first two of course being when he found out he was going to be a father. Had this girl said what he thought she just said? Was he interpreting correctly what she was implying?

"_This girl… she is willing to give up her next year of life only to satisfy my son? I can't believe this girl is willing to possibly throw away her and her families honor just for Inuyasha. She is truly selfless. But what if this is all for nothing? What if Inuyasha chooses Kikyo over him?"_ He wondered.

"Is something wrong Touga? You look like you've seen a ghost." Kagome asked concerned.

Shaking his head to rid his mind of his thoughts, Touga cleared his throat as yet another question popped into his brain.

"If I may be so bold to ask, what is the tale between my son and Kikyo?"

He could smell it in the air now, that scent that smelled like thunder when it roared. It was sadness and it certainly didn't smell good mixed in with Kagome's natural scent. From this he could tell that she apparently didn't like to think about Kikyo or the tale.

A long sigh escaped Kagome as she tried to keep her mind on completing her schoolwork instead of the tears gathering behind her eyes.

"Um… I don't really believe it is my place to tell their tale. You would possibly be better off asking Kaede. If you ask Inuyasha he'll just get upset and asking Kikyo would mean getting the bad half of the story which mostly involves blaming everything on Inuyasha."

Nodding to assure her that he understood, he watched her as she tackled her math work that she was obviously having trouble with. Thankfully for her Touga was a math wizard although how she could ever understand all of those symbols she would never know. She felt lucky to have him here to help her. It almost seemed like he was a father figure to her, but she shouldn't have been thinking that. Touga needed to be Inuyasha's father, not hers.

While he was explaining how to solve a problem minutes later, he felt a weight hit is shoulder. Turning his head only the slightest bit, his eyes showed him that it was Kagome, but his ears told him that she had fallen asleep.

Slowly and carefully so as not to wake her, Touga set down the strange writing instrument Kagome had given him to use and ever so easily gathered her up in his arms, stood up, and laid her down on the couch. After moving a couple stacks of paper with his foot, he revealed a blanket which he promptly picked up. When he turned around to cover her his eyes were shown an amusing site.

Apparently the two pups had woken up sometime during their teachings and were now cuddled up together on Kagome's stomach while Tinkerbell was by her side and tucked under her arm sound asleep.

Thinking that she would become hot if covered with the blanket, the inu-youkai put the blanket down on the table and did something that surprised even himself.

He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss upon her forehead. It wasn't one for a lover, but one meant for a daughter.

_***Somewhere in the mysterious beyond***_

The mysterious woman was once again sitting next to her bird bath like gateway, but this time she wasn't looking into it. No, she was gazing out at nothing. The odd thing about it though was that her eyes were glazed over in a white haze.

"What is it that you see Mistress?" Her companion asked kindly. "It isn't anything bad is it?"

She didn't respond for a few moments, she merely breathed as she "lived" through the rest of her vision.

"They must be careful." She whispered on the wind.

The man's head tilted like that of a dog. "Why? Why must they be careful?"

"They will need to be careful with what they do for the next few days. I see many possible scenarios coming from the upcoming dilemmas. As long as everything goes as it should the world will be safe."

"And how should these occurrences go Mistress?"

She took a deep breath as her eyes cleared and grasped her companion's hand in her own.

"They must be reunited for all to go correctly. Already two have found each other once again, now it is time for the rest."

* * *

**A/N ~ Hope all of you were satisfied with this chapter. I was really trying to make it seem like Touga and Kagome were having a kind of "father/daughter" moment.**

**I would like to thank all of the people and authors who have favorited this story and those who always come back to read. YOU ALL ARE WHO INSPIRE ME TO WRITE! **

***Did anyone like how the last chapter was written? I got two reviews on it, but I just wanted to know if any more of you liked how I wrote out the moments between Kaede and Gramps. I guess I am wondering if you think that it sounded like it was written alright. (I always doubt that I don't write my chapters right of something)**

**Feel free to draw Fanart for this fanfiction if you would like to. I welcome it ~ (I am not asking, just giving permission) ~ just remember to link my story to it and send me a link to your art piece!**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS/COOKIES ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**

**PROUD TO BE A KAEDE/GRAMPS SUPPORTER!**


	23. Nine, Ten, Ugh Her Again

**Curiosity – Chapter 23 – "Nine, Ten, Ugh… Her Again"  
**

Ever so slowly Kaede eased herself down the stairs. She had spent the entire night wrapped in the arms of her long missed husband and already she was yearning for the warmth of his arms that surrounded her earlier. When she had awoken the first thing to meet her sight was Yasuhiro's twin pools of amethyst and a loving smile, one that she had returned with earnest. Before she knew it, his lips were upon hers in yet another passionate kiss, one that lasted close to ten minutes. Both of them just felt the need once again to make sure that the other was truly there, that they were actually together again, and boy did they make sure through many, many long-lasting kisses.

According to the "clock" thing that sat on Yasuhiro's night stand it was almost six in the morning and that worried Kaede. From her estimate, that was about the time that Kagome woke up and she voiced her fears about being caught together. It wasn't that she was ashamed per say, it was just that she didn't exactly want to reveal anything about their little reunion. Yasuhiro agreed and decided to have Kaede go ahead and wake Kagome up since she needed to get ready for school anyways.

So after one last kiss, full of unspoken promises for future times like this one, Kaede found herself where she was now, stepping away from the staircase and heading toward the living room where she found a site that startled her.

_"Didn't Kagome wear those strange sleeping clothes of hers to bed?"_Kaede wondered as she came closer to Kagome to get a better look at what she was wearing. Why in the world was she wearing miko robes?

Figuring she should get Kagome up for school, Kaede moved closer to the couch where the young priestess was sleeping and reached out a hand to wake Kagome up when she was suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

"Kikyo, I swear to God if that is you I am going to get an arrow, seal you to a wall, and dye your hair bright purple."

Kaede pulled her hand back quickly. What in the world was Kagome talking about? More than that what did Kikyo have to do with it?

"Child, exactly what are ye talking about?"

"Mmmmm…" Kagome mumbled as she pried her face away from the corner of the couch and turned to face whoever was talking to her. "Oh it's you Kaede, I was afraid Kikyo had come back again."

"Did something happen last night between ye and my sister?"

"You don't even know the half of it."

_***Three Hours Earlier***_

"Five more minutes mom."

"I can assure you I am not your mother, now get up before I move you forcibly." A cold feminine voice commanded that made Kagome jump, only she wasn't very happy when she spun around to find Kikyo staring down at her for a brief second before some sort of material was thrown in her face. Kagome picked it up and realized from feel alone that the mysterious fabric was that of a miko robe but she was instantly maddened when she saw the time from the glow of the DVD player.

"Kikyo, exactly why are you getting me up at two-thirty in the morning?"

"It is time to purify the shrine grounds. I feel a very dark aura hanging around the shrine, one that your grandfather apparently hasn't been able to detect due to his lack of power."

_"She's just figuring this out about Gramps now? And what does she mean by 'dark aura'? I'm supposedly more powerful than she is and I don't feel anything. I better just go along with it. It can't possibly take that long to purify the shrine right?"_

"Are you going to get up or not?" Kikyo sneered.

"Alright, alright I'm up."

_***Present Time***_

"To make a long story short, it took four hours to purify everything because apparently I wasn't doing it right and I kept having to redo everything, which means according to the clock I've only had about forty minutes of sleep. Plus that broom was smarts too." Kagome explained as she rubbed the back of her head.

"What does a broom have to do with anything?" Kaede asked as she followed Kagome into the kitchen.

It took a few minutes before Kagome could answer due to the fact that she had to find everything to get breakfast started cooking. "Apparently it is common practice with Kikyo to hit other miko's with broomsticks when they don't purify something correctly or fall asleep, surprises me that I don't have a concussion. Mind getting me the eggs out of the fridge please?"

Without even thinking to act as if she had never been to this era, Kaede went and retrieved the eggs and set them on the counter, after which she quickly examined the back of Kagome's head. Where she had rubbed it earlier didn't look that bad, to the untrained eye that is. If you moved the young miko's hair over and truly looked at her head you could see how red the spot had become, almost to the point of where it looked raw. Kaede figured her sister must have hit the girl many times, or at least extremely hard, after all, in her younger days Kikyo was known to have a temper.

"What would you like for breakfast Kaede?"

A sigh escaped the old woman at Kagome's question. Must this girl always put others before herself? She should be more worried about her head not want her house guest wanted for breakfast.

"Rice will be fine child. But shouldn't you let me cook? You look awfully tired and from what you've told me you had a long night."

Giggling flowed from Kagome as she looked at Kaede with amusement. "Well in this time, rice isn't normally a breakfast food, would you like to try something new like pancakes or bacon?"

_"Pancakes? Now where have I heard that word before? Oh yes, Hiro made me those after I spent my first night here. During what he called our 'honeymoon' if I remember right. It would be nice to have them again, they were quite good."_

Agreeing to try this "new food", Kaede assisted Kagome with making their morning meal and in no time the house was filled with the scents of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and even cinnamon rolls. Slowly but surely everyone made their way downstairs to the kitchen to receive their breakfast, that is, everyone but Souta. But Kagome didn't have time to worry about him; she had to get Suki to calm down first.

"Suki no want eggs! Suki want wamen!" The young child cried.

"Now Suki you know you're not allowed to have ramen for breakfast. Eat your eggs for Gramps please." Yasuhiro tried to reason with the child.

"But Ya-ya have wamen for breakfast so Suki want wamen!"

Kagome smiled at Suki as she put a plate of eggs before her. "You have to remember baby, Inuyasha is almost two hundred years older than you, seven hundred if you include the time difference, but I'll make you a deal. If you are a good girl for Gramps today and Inuyasha is here when I get home from school, you and he can have all of the ramen you want, but only if he is here ok?"

A huge smile spread itself across Suki's face as she heartily dug into her eggs. She was certainly looking forward to seeing her Ya-ya later.

"Shouldn't your brother be getting ready for school as well?" Touga inquired.

"Guess you're right. Tinkerbell, will you go wake Souta up please?"

Within moments Souta was in the kitchen rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The boy came up to stand beside Kagome, whom was cooking bacon at the stove, and reached into one of the upper cabinets to retrieve the cereal, that he would have normally needed a chair to reach. When Kagome turned to look at him through her tired eyes, thinking she didn't just see what she thought she saw, she finally noticed what was different about her brother.

"You're taller than me now." She realized.

The boy didn't answer for a few minutes because he was stuffing his face full of food, but when his bowl was empty, he pat his sister one the back before heading upstairs to change for school.

"Seriously sis, you must be really out of it to have finally realized that little fact now instead of yesterday. I've been having growth spurts for quite a while now dork."

"Oh whatever, you know I don't pay attention to stuff when I'm sleepy!" She yelled after him as she two made her way upstairs only she was headed towards the bathroom.

The rest of the guests ate their food in comfortable silence, all enjoying the new and tasteful delicacies Kagome had prepared for them. Souta had even made his way back down for yet another helping, he was a growing boy after all, but they were all startled when a scream came from the bathroom.

It only took seconds for the ruffled miko to make an appearance in the doorway of the kitchen, dressed in her uniform and a towel wrapped around her head. Kagome ignored the questioning stares from the others as she zeroed in on her "little" brother.

"Alright, what did you do?"

"I only wanted to see what you would look like with a different hair color sis. You can't possibly be mad when you always encourage me to experiment with things. Besides that, at least now I can tell you two apart." He replied innocently. Boy, it was really getting hard not to laugh.

"What is he talking about Kagome?" Izayoi spoke.

The miko pulled the towel from her head to show that her hair was no longer the natural bluish-black, but that it was now a dirty blonde color, which she did feel suited her a bit.

"Child…"

"Oh no I'm gonna be late!" Kagome yelped as she saw the time and raced to her room to retrieve her bag. Upon exiting, Souta was waiting just outside her door.

"You do know that the school decided to start up casual Friday's again right?"

"And you wait to tell me this until now?" Kagome moaned.

Ten minutes later she was standing at the front door in a pair of boot-cut jeans, a "Peace & Love" t-shirt, jean jacket, and a pair of high heels in her hand.

Before leaving she ran back into the kitchen and kissed Gramps, Suki, and Kaede on the cheek, bidding them goodbye, and gave Inuyasha's parents a semi-hug. She also double checked to make sure that the stew she prepared for lunch was in the slow cooker and ready for eating later.

"Bye everyone, hope you have a great day!"

"I am prepared to leave a well." Kikyo said directly behind Kagome, spooking her.

"You're what?" 

* * *

**A/N ~ Thanks to everyone who was patient with me throughout my 4-H fair week (more like month).**

**I am proud to announce that my portraits of "Kaede and Gramps" as well as my creative writings of "They Weren't The Only Ones" and Chapter 21 of "Curiosity" won FIRST PLACE and HONORABLE MENTION in their respectable categories. YAY!**

**To answer a question I received ~ The rest of the Inuyasha gang should make an appearance in the next chapter or chapter 25, it just depends how it types out.**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**

**PROUD TO BE A KAEDE/GRAMPS SUPPORTER!**


	24. Hi Ho, Hi Ho, To School We Go

**Curiosity – Chapter 24 – "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, To School We Go"**

"What do you mean you're coming to school with me?"

"I told you that I wished to know why you disappeared so often, usually with Inuyasha in tow. Obviously this 'school' is one of those things for which you return. Come Kaede we're leaving!"

"Hey what right do you have to order Kaede around? She may be your younger sister but she's your elder now!" Kagome fumed.

A frazzled looking Kaede appeared in the doorway followed by an annoyed looking Yasuhiro, both upset because one of their "smooching sessions" had been interrupted. Ever since they had been reunited only a few hours ago they couldn't get enough of each other.

After having a ten minute discussion, in which Kikyo still wouldn't budge about allowing Kaede to stay home, Kagome realized that if they didn't leave now then she would be late for school.

"Alright, alright, fine, let's all go to school. But we'll have to take my car if we're going to make it in time. It'll take half an hour to get there by car whereas walking would take an extra fifteen minutes, plus it wouldn't be fair to Kaede. Meet me at the bottom of the shrine steps." Kagome yelled as she walked through the house and out the back door to wherever this "car" thing was.

A minute later the two priestesses were waiting on some sort of smooth stone (sidewalk) beside what they could only assume was the street in Kagome's huge village. Her village, that was a surprise in and of itself, was one that the two women had never expected to see in their lifetimes. It was so big that the two priestesses wondered exactly how all of the villagers got around such a humongous village. More important than that, where were the rice paddies? Usually you could see them from the local shrine, so where did these people get their food from?

And what were the strange things that sounded like demons zooming back and forth before them? Better than that, where were the horse drawn carts and merchants? Did things truly change so much in five hundred years?

Both were brought out of their thoughts when one of those things pulled up in front of them with Kagome inside. It was a nice looking car, mostly red with a dash of white in the rear fenders, but the front of it didn't look like the others they had seen in the last few minutes. Instead of being mostly rectangular as the other cars were, this one had what looked like a horseshoe or horse collar in the front and had four of the round light things instead of two.

Kaede suddenly realized that she had seen this car before. Unlike her sister, she knew what a car was but was only playing dumb so that her secret wouldn't be revealed.

_"This is the car that Hiro had when we first married. I was so afraid of it, thinking it was going to eat me, but what wonderful times we had in that car, oh so wonderful times. I even gave birth to Satoru in the back because we didn't make it to the hospital in time and he just couldn't wait to come into the world."_

Being brought out of her reverie once again as Kagome apparently finished her little explanation of what exactly the huge thing was. Kaede saw Kagome opening both of the passenger doors urging Kikyo that it was alright and that if they didn't leave right away they would miss out on her schooling. She also requested that Kaede sit in the front while Kikyo go in the back, after all, you should respect your elders by letting them ride "shot gun." Without complaint, the sisters made their way into the car, as did Kagome, and they were off.

"Why does this beast appear different from the others?" Kikyo asked coolly as she watched this new world pass by.

Kagome smiled at her via the rear view mirror before returning her eyes to the road. "Well, to get a little technical, this car is older than the others you see. My car is a 1959 Edsel Villager Station Wagon so that means this car is about fifty-two years old. This was actually Gramps car, but as dad grew up he fell in love with them. It's actually a rare car, only made them for three years, but dad collected them anyway. He even went as far as to rebuild them if they were in too bad of condition. I decided to drive this one when I got my license because for one, it was my dad's favorite, plus it will hold all of Inuyasha's ramen in the back."

Time passed in comfortable silence until they got about fifteen minutes away from the school. As Kagome stopped at a crosswalk her girlfriends, Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi, saw the car and ran over as fast as they could.

"Morning Kagome!" They all said cheerfully.

"I can't believe you got this thing running, sure sounds good." Eri said approvingly.

"Thanks. Hey, do you guys want a ride? I can pull up in that parking lot over there and we can set up the third set of seats."

"Sure!"

Within minutes, the third seat had been pulled up. Yuka and Eri sat in the very back while Ayumi sat beside Kikyo. When they were off again, Kagome made introductions to everyone.

"Kaede, Kikyo, these are my girlfriends Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi. Girls, meet Kikyo and Kaede."

Hellos were exchanged, after which the girls kept staring in between Kikyo and Kagome, each one trying to find the courage to ask the question that was on all of their minds. Finally, Ayumi decided to be brave and possibly face Kagome's wrath.

"Um, Kagome, I know this sounds strange but are you and Kikyo…"

"No Ayumi, we're not sisters. In fact we're not even related." Kagome interrupted.

All of the girls let out a breath that none of them knew they were holding in. None of them even noticed when Kagome shut the engine off and began to get out of the car. They were surprised when Kikyo and Kaede started to follow Kagome into the school.

"Kagome, why are they here? Don't tell me their repeating middle school!" Yuka giggled out. "Oh wait, from their dress, are they here for history class today?"

"Now Yuka…" Kagome started.

"Wait a minute Kagome she's telling the truth. We begin studying the Feudal Age in history class today and the teacher said that he would have a couple people there in Feudalistic dress." Eri explained.

The young miko was surprised by that and explained that they weren't, which only had to make her come up with an explanation as to why they actually were there. The only plausible thing he came up with was that Gramps was tired of bothering with all the newfangled medicines for her "illnesses" and decided to take a different approach because he thought that maybe it was an evil spirit that possessed her or something. Astonishingly, not only did her friends believe her, but the school as well.

The day passed in a whirl for the two priestesses, both being stunned silent by how much Kagome had to learn in order to graduate. It was no wonder she got so aggravated with her homework, especially the math. Mind you, Kikyo and Kaede knew basic math, as was required with the job, but what was the use in adding letters? Neither could believe that Kagome could wrap her head around such nonsense, but she apparently had a very good understanding it for when they did the problems at the board, she had beaten everyone in the class. Kaede guessed that last night's study session had paid off for the girl.

Kaede was beyond amazed at what the children in the room learned throughout the day. She constantly whispered questions to Kagome, wanting to make sure she understood what they were teaching in the various classes. Even in the computer lab, the teacher had allowed her to try her hand at using one of the laptops the teenagers were working on, with Kagome's supervision of course.

Kikyo though just went through the day in silence. Silently though, she was interested in what they were teaching and found it mildly interesting, but she was having more fun watching Kaede. Her eye was filled with what could only be described as childish wonder at all of the facts and equations being said.

_"Hn, Kaede was always a smart child, wanting to learn anything and everything she could. Her mind has always been like a sponge, soaking up all the knowledge that was presented to her. It pleases me to see her like this again, excited and happy."_

It was finally time for their last class, History with Sensei Morimoto. As everyone took their seats and the teacher walked into the classroom, the entire class became silent, envisioning stories of bloody and horrific battles being told. Boy, were they wrong.

"Today as you all know is when we start studying the Feudal Age in Japan's history." Mr. Morimoto began. "Just like all my other classes today, I know you are expecting to hear of battles, this is where you're wrong. You all know that I take a different approach when teaching my classes, so we will be beginning with a tale I am sure you are all aware of; the legend of the Shikon Jewel."

Moans were heard throughout the class at this announcement; one of the boys even voiced his opinion on it.

"You can't be serious Sensei! We've all heard this tale, what, a million times? Besides, it's always the same thing. Boy meets girl, girl tries to kill boy, boy and girl fall in love, girl pins boy to tree, and girl dies. Simple as that!"

A chuckle resounded from Mr. Morimoto. "I'm afraid it isn't as simple as that. Now, most of you know the gist of the tale, but do any of you know the finer points? For example, with a show of hands, who knew that the priestess Kikyo had a younger sister?"

The two women who were in "question", if you will, were certainly surprised to be the center of attention, in one way or another. Their eyes focused on the eight students who had raised their hands, Kagome included of course.

"Good, now from you eight, who knows the name of the sister?"

As expected about four of the teens lowered their hands and the teacher asked the remaining to tell him her name.

"Aiko."

"Akemi."

"Kamiko."

"Kaede."

"Correct Ms. Higurashi, the younger sister's name was Kaede, in fact she was known as Lady Kaede to most of the villagers. This, class, is what I mean by saying you will be learning some of the more minor details. Now, if each one of you will come up and get a copy of my lesson we will learn more about Kaede and another lesser known person in the Shikon Universe, Myoga the Flea." 

* * *

When the bell finally rang and students began to leave, Kagome trudged to her locker to pick up all her make-up work and to grab her sketchbook which she took to her art teacher to receive credit in the class.

Wanting to get home to make sure Gramps didn't destroy the house, Kagome began to leave with the two women when an unexpected surprise stopped her.

"Higurashi!"

Kagome turned at her name being called. She, like Kikyo and Kaede, paused from getting in the car and discovered that Hojo had stopped beside her with yet another gift in his hands.

"Oh hi Hojo, what's new?"

"I'm sorry Higurashi but I don't have any time to talk today, I'll be late for piano lessons if I don't get going, but here, I got you something for your nerves. Your Gramps told me you had a nervous breakdown so I did some research and got you some herbs to help you with that. Well, I've got to get going. Have a great day!" Hojo spoke as he rode off on his bicycle.

_"I'm going to have to have a talk with that man. Hiro can't just go around saying that Kagome is having nervous breakdowns!" _Kaede silently fumed.

The young priestess quietly laughed as she and the others got into her car. She set the present in between herself and Kaede and noticed she had a strange look on her face.

"Child, was that who I think it was?"

A giggle escaped from her again as she started the car.

"Yes Kaede that was the reincarnation of Akitoki Hojo." 

* * *

**A/N ~ Hope you all like this chapter. I will try to get another one up soon, maybe in the next day, who knows?**

I would like to give a shoutout to EnnaLight who has reviewed every one of my chapters! *huggies*

BEFORE ANYONE ASKS ~ INUYASHA AND THE GANG WILL BE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER I PROMISE!

Also, the car is a real car. I decided to make Kagome's father an Edsel enthusiast. To see a pic of the car go to my DeviantArt page (same username) and there will be a pic in my gallery.

What did you think of this chapter? Was it to your liking?

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS! ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!

PROUD KAEDE/GRAMPS SUPPORTER!


	25. The Arrival

**Curiosity ~ Chapter 25 ~ "The Arrival"**

_***Feudal Japan ~ About twenty minutes before Kagome got out of school***_

"Damn it all! Why the hell did it take so long to get back to the village! We should have been here two days ago." Inuyasha fumed as they continued down the path towards Edo.

A sigh escaped the demon slayer. "We all know that Inuyasha, but the important thing is that we're here now and perhaps we made it in time to help Kagome if she truly is in danger."

"Keh, whatever, let's just get to the old hag's and figure out what the hell has been going on." And with that Inuyasha took off once again leaving his pack behind.

"He must really be worried about Kagome. Come Sango; let us make haste to Lady Kaede's." Miroku suggested before they all began running towards the village miko's hut, but when they got there, the group was just about scared out of their wits.

Inside the hut was not Lady Kaede, no, a younger priestess was using her residence which caused them great worry. Did something happen to the elderly priestess while they were away? Or, was Kikyo perhaps the cause of the Kaede's disappearance? There was only one way to find out.

"Oi wench! Where the hell is the old hag?" Inuyasha brashly asked, annoyed that he had to go through all of this.

"Inuyasha, can't you tell by her scent where she went off too?" Questioned Sango, but it was Shippo who answered her.

"We can't Sango. Kaede, Kagome, and Kikyo's scents are all in the hut but they've been gone at least a day. And there's no luck in tracking them due to the rain that came through last night."

Throughout their entire conversation, Kaede's fill-in, the Lady Takara, sat silently by the fire, merely watching the conversation between the odd group unfold, wondering just how the misfits came to be together in the first place.

She figured this was the group that Lady Kaede had mentioned before her sister had made them take their leave. If it was, then she had a message to deliver, one that would hopefully calm the infuriated hanyou down.

"If I may be so bold, are you the hanyou Inuyasha?"

The group went silent as they turned to face the young priestess.

"Keh, what's it to you?" He spat back.

A sigh left Takara; she had been warned of his behavior.

"I have a message from Lady Kaede. She figured that you would be upset to find them all gone if you heard of exactly who was behind everything. Kaede requested that I tell you that her sister Kikyo demanded to be taken to the young miko's home 'less she suffers the consequences. I do not know how long Lady Kikyo was in the village, but I do know that not two days ago she led them all in the direction of the Bone Eater's Well. That is strange though, because I know that there aren't any homes near that area for miles."

Stunned silent by what they just heard, the mismatched travelers let what was just learned sink in, none believing what they hoped Kagome didn't allow to happen while they were gone.

"You don't think she actually…" Miroku began, but couldn't finish due to the shock.

"That wench can't be that stupid. Was there anything else woman?" Inuyasha stared at the priestess, practically boring holes into her skull while waiting for his answer.

"I don't know if it is of any worth, but I sensed heavy, powerful magic before their entire aura's disappeared."

That was all they needed to hear before the Inu-tachi were out of the hut and racing towards the old well. Within minutes they had arrived and Miroku confirmed what Lady Takara had told them.

"Their aura's do end here, but I sense two others as well, only faintly though. It's like whoever it was, is attempting to hide their presence."

"I worried more about Kagome and Granny Kaede than I am about that. If Kikyo and Granny Kaede went through the well then I think we should go to so we can make sure Kagome is safe." Shippo stated, worried about his foster mother.

"Well that's all fine and dandy, but how are you lot supposed to pass through the f'ing well?" Inuyasha yelled.

Kirara, who had been keeping quiet the entire time, decided to just go ahead and check on her other human (Kagome) while the others figured out what to do. With a loud "meow", Kirara jumped off Sango's shoulder directly into the well, which allowed her to pass through surprisingly when the inside began to turn purple.

"Kirara!"

"Sango!"

"Miroku!"

The friends yelled after one another as each jumped into the well to save the other, not realizing that they were being transported to a different time and place while leaving Inuyasha standing in silence over what had just occurred.

_"Guess that's one way to get them all to Kagome's world."_He thought as he too jumped into the ancient well.

Groaning was what greeted him once he reached the other side.

"That's what you lot get for jumping in after each other." 

* * *

_***Inside Kagome's house ~ Two minutes before***_

__Touga was having a grand time. Granted, he wasn't doing much of anything, but he was rather enjoying watching his mate play with the little girl named Suki. She seemed to have a knack for drawing children to her and then being drawn into playing with them. They had even gotten him to play a couple of games, even help with making a snack. He quite enjoyed the "PB&J" that Suki showed them how to make. He would have to see if he could procure some to take back home with him, it was quite tasty after all.

He wondered if this was what it had been like with Inuyasha. Did he love to play as a child? If so what was his favorite game? What else did he like to do? What was his favorite food? What interested him? It was true that he regretted not being there for his youngest son as a child, but he was bound and determined to make up for it now, hopefully somewhat peaceful with the help of Kagome.

The former Lord was lost to his thoughts again as he watched Izayoi and Suki play with her dolls and found joy in seeing how happy his mate was. He wondered if she would have wanted more children had he not been killed. Could she possibly want another child now?

_"Perhaps not," _He thought to himself. _"She is most likely concerned more about Inuyasha than the musings of having a child. Maybe, once everything has calmed down we could 'work' on having another pup. I've always dreamt of having a daughter."_

Before his thoughts could go any further though, Touga felt the strong magic coming from the direction of the well house and knew it was time to flee the Higurashi home. It wasn't time yet for Inuyasha to know that they had returned from the afterlife.

With speed only a demon would possess, Touga clutched Izayoi to his chest and masked every inch of the house that contained their scents, hiding the fact that they were ever there. He was about to leave when the Suki stopped him, wondering what was going on.

"Listen young one, Inuyasha and his friends have come to see Kagome, you must not tell him we are here. Do you understa…."

"Darling, she took off as soon as you told her Inuyasha was here. I believe that is our cue to leave as well."

"How smart you are woman. If I remember correctly, that is why I mated you in the first place."

Izayoi gazed up at his face, a hand to her chest and feigning a hurt look. "You mean it wasn't for my wonderfully good looks."

A playful growl and nuzzle to the neck, promising a good time somewhere in the future, was her reply as he took off into the woods behind the Sunset Shrine. 

* * *

_***Well house***_

"Next time we come to Kagome's era, may I suggest we each jump in one at a time, giving the rest time to exit the well?" Sango rubbed her kinked neck as she walked up the steps to stand next to the doors with Inuyasha.

A resounding bout of "yes" echoed throughout the building and well while the travelers were still climbing out of the well and dusting themselves off.

"I must say I agree with Lady Sango. Landing on her Hiraikotsu was certainly smarts." Miroku huffed, still having the wind out of him from when he landed on the giant boomerang.

Fed up with waiting, Inuyasha slid open the door and exited onto the shrine grounds followed by his companions who were all getting their clothing in order. When they actually took the time to look up, they were in awe…

Not one of them had expected Kagome's family shrine to be this HUGE – certainly her village wasn't that big was it? Of course she'd said that Edo had grown a lot in the coming centuries, but it couldn't have possibly grown this much!

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was getting tired of watching his friend's stunned expressions at the size of the grounds. He was even more annoyed with the looks they were receiving from the shrine's visitors, which brought on his famous foot tapping. He could see where the people were coming from though, after all, just how many times do you see four people and a cat come seemingly out of nowhere? He sure as hell didn't know.

"Are you guys going to stand here all day or are we gonna go find the wench and hag?" He asked irritably as he headed toward the shrine steps, his friends quickly following to catch up with him.

Miroku figured he should try to reason with him. "Inuyasha, I know you have been here many times, but how do you expect to find Kagome when you don't even…." He sputtered to a stop as he took in the view of Tokyo from the top of Sunset Shrine.

"That can't possibly be Kagome's village. It's… it's…. there are so many people. I've never seen such a village before." Shippo spoke astonished by the site before him.

"Keh, if you all will quit site seeing, I should be able to track the scent of Kagome's stupid 'at-too-moo-beetle'."

But just as he was about to leave a child calling out his 'name' stopped him, right before he felt something make contact with his leg. Looking down at the little girl seemingly plastered to his leg, he could tell that it was none other than little Suki, whom was currently smiling brightly at him.

"Hi Ya-ya!"

Sango looked at the hanyou incredulously, "Ya-ya?"

A light blush made its way across Inuyasha's face. "Keh ain't my fault she can't say my name."

Figuring Suki might know where Kagome was, he removed her from his person and bent down to her level.

"Say kid, you got any idea where Kagome is?"

"Gooey is wit Ma-Maw and Kick-you. They go to school and Gooey called and told Pa-Paw that her fwiends were taking them to Wacdonald's. Are you gonna go Ya-ya? Can I go wit you?" Suki pleaded knowing her Ya-ya couldn't resist the "pouty face."

"What exactly did she say Inuyasha? I couldn't understand her." Shippo asked from behind Suki which scared the living daylights out of her. She immediately clung to Inuyasha for protection, shoving her face into the crook of Inuyasha's neck.

"You're so stupid, she said that Kagome is with the old woman and Kikyo and that those three annoying friends of hers went to get something to eat with them."

"Fine, I'm guessing you know where this place is Inuyasha? I suggest we get going then before anything happens to Kagome. You know how much trouble she gets in when you're not around to protect her from demons. Kirara!"

The giant fire cat transforming in front of the small child not only scared her again, but fascinated her as well. "Ooooh… pretty kitty…"

"One problem with your thinking Sango, there ain't no demons in this time. If the locals see Kirara they're likely to attack so we'll have to huff it on foot."

"Not a problem Inuyasha," Miroku smiled as he held up a sutra. "This sutra is a spell for invisibility so there is no need to worry my friend. You'll still be able to see us of course." He explained as he boarded Kirara behind Sango and placed the sutra upon the fire cat.

Wanting to get going, Inuyasha starting putting Suki down, but that only made her cling to him more.

"No! Suki go wit Ya-ya! Pa-paw no fun to play wit and Soda at ball game!"

Just wanting to get to the wench and find out what in the seven hells was going on, he indulged the little girl and took off after making sure he had a good grip on him, and he on her.

Inuyasha REALLY didn't want to face the wrath of Kagome if anything happened to little Suki. 

* * *

_***At Wacdonald's ~ Ayumi, Yuka, and Eri are inside and Kagome is helping Kaede and Kikyo out of the car***_

"Child, exactly what is this place?" Kaede asked as she slowly eased herself out of the car with the help of Kagome. Walking throughout the entire school all day certainly did take a lot out of an old woman.

_"I'm getting to old for this."_

"It's a restaurant, a place where you can go order food and someone will cook it for you and then you eat it in the building. This pace mainly serves chicken and beef, which would you, prefer Kaede?"

Apparently not understanding what Kagome was saying, Kaede responded, "Do ye honestly think this old woman could eat a whole chicken?"

Kagome couldn't contain her laughter then as she held the door open for the two elder miko's.

"No Kaede, they don't cook you a whole one, they only give you some. I've got an idea, how about I get chicken and I'll order you a burger and we'll split it that way you don't have to decide? By the way, would you like to try some coke?"

Agreeing with Kagome on her idea and expressing her desire to try this "coke", the young miko went ahead and set them down in a booth while she went to order with her girlfriends. It amazed Kaede how much Kagome laughed and – well… looked so alive and carefree with the three gaggling girls. She turned to gaze at Kikyo, who turned out was also looking at them.

"Ye know sister, I remember a time when you were like that. Aye, it has been many a year, but ye were once surrounded by loving, gossiping friends." She took a moment to look upon the four girls again.

"I miss it sister." Kaede's voice whispered as it escaped her. She was so quiet Kikyo almost didn't catch it.

"What do you mean Kaede? Miss what?"

A sad smile made its way across Kaede's face. "Throughout the years, I've often missed seeing you smile. Not the one you hide behind either, no, the true smile filled with joy and happiness. I've yearned to hear you laugh again; in the way those girls are doing now." She noticed a tear running down her cheek and hastily wiped it away. "But now is not the time to listen to the ramblings of an old woman, it is time to rejoice in our new found friends."

It was in those few precious moments that Kikyo had finally realized how truly alone Kaede had been throughout these past fifty years and that truth made her feel like she was stabbed through the heart with a knife made of the coldest ice.

_"I should have fought harder to stay with her; I was all she had left. Mother died giving birth to our brother and father died before that in the wars. How was she ever able to stand being alone for so long? I am sincerely sorry sister; perhaps… just maybe I will be able to make it up to you somehow before my time in this world is done."_

Kikyo grimaced as those thoughts ran through her mind. She could tell that Kaede was barely holding it together so she placed a hand on her shoulder in silent support, vowing silently to make up for the years of loneliness in any way she could.

Smiles were put back into place as Kagome arrived with their food and everyone was given their share. Both of the elder priestesses found the food strange, but oddly tasty, and Kaede had obviously developed an addiction to Diet Coke. (She was already on her third refill.)

The first few minutes were filled with Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi filling Kagome in on the rest of the school gossip that they hadn't gotten to talk about at lunch. As Yuka was finishing her food, she remembered a really important question she forgot to ask Kagome.

"Oh my gosh, Kagome, did you know that the new Twilight movie is coming out next week?" She practically shrieked, making the other customers turn and stare.

"Really – which one are they on now?" Kagome asked.

"The last book 'Breaking Dawn' – the company is making it into a two-parter. Totally sucks."

This bit of information intrigued Kaede. "Ye mean that they have that one made into a movie already? I only just finished reading the book."

While the girls were staring at Kaede with wide eyes, like she was crazy, Kikyo was gazing at Kagome questioningly. Said girl was giggling madly in her mind. Of course Kaede was a Twi-heart! The elderly woman had become instantly addicted when she found a copy of the first book in Kagome's bag and, being the wonderful girl that she is, Kagome brought back a DVD player and made sure that Kaede saw the movie versions of the famous books.

"Whoa, wait a minute, you're a Twilight fan?" Ayumi asked suspiciously before taking a breath as a smile broke across her face.

"That is TOTALLY AWESOME!"

"Are you for Team Edward or Team Jacob?" Eri asked excitedly.

"She looks like a Jacob kinda gal to me." Yuka said.

"Yeah right, she is an Edward gal." Eri responded.

Wanting to break up the fight before bringing on any more attention, Kaede interrupted the feuding girls.

"Actually, I am a member of Team Carlisle myself. Since we're both, of course, interested in medicine and the medical field."

The conversation went into Twilight mode from there, but before it went to deep Kagome asked Kaede if she wanted to try some ice cream, to which the rest of the girls wanted some as well. So Kagome went and ordered their dessert and left her bag at the table, which after about two minutes started playing "Who Let the Dogs Out."

Figuring it was Kagome's cell phone; Yuka pulled the bag into her lap and fished around for the device. Once she found it, she flipped it open and just about squealed with delight. The chatter suddenly stopped as Yuka answered Kagome's phone, curious as to whom it was.

"Hey lover boy, whatcha up too?"

"Who the f*** is this?" The brash voice on the other end asked.

"Silly, it's Yuka! Don't you remember, we met at Kagome's a couple weeks ago? You can't have that bad of a memory Inuyasha."

"It's Inuyasha!" - "Let me talk to him!" – "No me first!" The other two began fighting until Kagome took the phone from Yuka.

"Yes Inuyasha, what is it?" She asked sweetly.

"Keh, don't give me any of that crap wench. I'm trying to find you and I don't know where this 'Wacdonald's' place is that you're apparently at cause I've already been to three of'em and ya obviously weren't there."

Boy did Kagome have a quick fix for this one, a smart one too might she add.

"Do you remember how to take a picture with your phone?"

"Yeah wench."

"And do you remember how to send it?"

"Damn I ain't that stupid!"

"Ok, ok, don't get upset. Just take a picture of where you're at and send it to me. Then I'll be able to tell you how to get there 'kay?"

A grumbling "whatever" was her reply as he hung up the phone and Kagome dug into her ice cream. She was halfway through when her phone rang again; alerting her that she had a picture message.

What she saw when she flipped open the phone was something she would never forget.

"OH…MY…GOD…"

**A/N ~ Cliffy anyone?**

**Hopefully this chapter is to your liking, I got some heat about the last one not being long enough. FOR THE RECORD this chapter contained 3,460 WORDS.**

And yes... I made Kaede into a Twilight fan. I just couldn't help myself! C: Sorry folks, I had to do it!

Sooooooo... Kagome taught Inuyasha how to use a cell phone... yeah... XD

Just to recap about Suki - she can't pronounce people's names below are the "whose who"

Kagome - "Gooey"  
Kaede - "Ma-maw"  
Kikyo - "Kick-you" (literally - say KICK YOU)  
Inuyasha - "Ya-ya" (Ya like "Yasha" NOT like "yay"  
Souta - "Soda"  
Gramps - "Pa-paw"

**ART CHALLENGE FOR ANYONE THAT IS INTERESTED ~ My group on Deviant Art (IY-Unsung-Spirits) is having an art challenge/contest. DRAW ANYONE IN THE INUYASHA CREW ELDERYAND IF THEIR OLD IN THE SERIES DRAW THEM YOUNG. I'm listed under the same user over on DA if anyone is interested, full list of rules is there a well.**

**Also, I am going back through and revising some chapters due to requests. Chapter 1 has already been re-written. Please go have a look at it if you have time. I tweaked some things that make more sense and flow with the story.**

**PLEASE NOTE THAT UPDATES WILL BE SLOW AGAIN DUE TO STATE FAIR DOG TRAINING ~ UPDATES WIL CONTINUE REGULARY AFTER AUGUST 23!**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**

**PROUD KAEDE/GRAMPS SUPPORTER!**


	26. Eenie, Meanie, Minie, Moe

**A/N PLEASE READ!**** ~ I would like to apologize to all of my readers for my failure of timely updates****. I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS STORY!**

**In case any of you didn't know, my dad had to have emergency surgery on August 9 to have immediate removal of an abdominal aortic aneurism. (A 'Y' shaped vein that pumps blood directly from the heart to your legs) The vein had to be replaced completely due to the four inch aneurism. He is doing ok now, he's home, but I am having to do the work around the house while mom runs the family business.**

**Updates will come, just not the "once a week" schedule I had originally planned.**

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

**Curiosity ~ Chapter 26 ~ "Eenie, Meanie, Minie, Moe"**

_***Thirty minutes ago ~ With the Inu-tachi***_

To say that things hadn't changed that much in the last five hundred years would have been considered a lie in the eyes of the monk, slayer, neko, and kitsune that were currently flying through the air following an inu-hanyou carrying a three year old.

Of course they had known that things would be different, but they didn't expect Kagome's village to be **THIS** different. Kagome had told them a few of the many marvels of her time but to actually be here seeing them with your own eyes gave the four friends a whole new light as to the things she had described.

Never had they seen, scratch that, **IMAGINE **buildings being so tall and ominous looking. How long had it taken for the people of this village to build such a thing? Even the roads were strange here. Gone was the dirt and rocks of their world and in its place was some sort of strange blackness that to them looked almost like a river winding in and around the buildings. How wasn't that the cars were able to drive on it instead of sink? (Kagome told them about cars)

But now isn't the time to worry about how things in this era worked. Now was the time to find Kagome and Kaede before something awful happened to them?

"Inuyasha! How much farther until we reach this place that your young passenger thinks Kagome is at?" Miroku questioned.

"Should be in a few minutes monk! Damn you three seem to be in a damn rush!"

"Do you blame us Inuyasha? Kikyo must have something big up her sleeve if she felt the need to practically kidnap Kagome and Kaede to a different time entirely. And we can tell from your pace that you are worried as well!" Sango answered back.

They could tell that Inuyasha was yelling a retort back at them but none could hear him over the whirring sound of the giant bird-like thing flying overhead.

"Demon!" Shippo screamed before crawling into the confines of Miroku's kimono.

Sango already had her hiraikotsu poised and ready to defend Kirara's passengers when a clawed hand latched on to her arm to stop her as the strange thing flew over them. She was surprised that the "bird demon" paid the group no mind and just kept on going.

"That thing ain't a demon Sango. Kagome explained it once, it's something called an 'oreo-plain' that humans can board and ride to different places including various continents in a matter of hours instead of days." Inuyasha explained them.

"You mean Kagome's people are so advanced that they've actually figured out a way to travel by air instead of boat?" Asked the wide eyed monk.

"Keh, course they have bouzo. But we don't have time for this we gotta find Kagome!"

Once again the group began to travel towards this place that Kagome was supposedly at along with Kaede but it took them a lot longer than they had expected. Neither woman was at this "WacDonald's" place so they began to search aimlessly through the humongous village. Strangely enough, they found two other identical places also deemed "WacDonald's" but the group ended with the same results.

When they stopped on the roof of the third one, all could tell that Inuyasha was on his last nerve.

"How many of these f***ing places does Kagome's village need?" He bellowed to the world.

"I don't know Inuyasha but if it continues like this I fear that we won't find Kagome before something happens to her." Spoke Miroku.

Inuyasha was about to retort when he felt that insistent tugging at his pant leg again. Turning and tilting his head to stare at the small child before him, he noticed her holding a familiar rectangular red-colored device.

"Ya-ya call Gooey!" Suki grinned happily as she shoved the cell phone Mrs. Higurashi had gotten Inuyasha into his hand before prancing off to the side to have a play break with Shippo and Kirara.

"_Guess this is our best option to finding out where the wench is."_

Without further or due, while ignoring the stares from the others, he flipped open the cell phone and pressed he button he knew would ring right into Kagome's phone.

_***Current Time ~ Still at WacDonald's after school***_

"What is it? What's wrong Kagome?" The three girls asked in unison, but their question wasn't answered. The laugh that Kagome had tried so hard to hold in suddenly came spilling forth.

"Exactly what is so funny girl?" Kikyo asked coldly.

Kagome answered after finally catching her breath.

"Know how I told Inuyasha to send me a picture of where he was? Well, he did... He sent me a picture of his feet!"

"Seriously? Let me see!" Yuka plucked the phone from Kagome's hand and shared it with Eri and Ayumi who in turn began laughing as well.

"Guys, give me that back. I've got to call him so I can find out where he actually is."

Quickly dialing the number, Kagome held the phone to her ear and waited for the insufferable hanyou to answer his phone.

"You gonna tell me how the hell I can get to you now wench?" Answered the insufferable hanyou.

"Inuyasha, how do you expect me give you directions from where you are to me if you send me a photo of your feet?"

"Well that's where I am stupid!"

"Inuyasha I didn't mean exactly where you were standing, I meant I wanted a picture of one of the buildings that is around you. How about this, where are you at right now?"

"Keh, on a flat roof of one of your weird huts."

A sigh escaped the miko then as she tried to reign in her rising anger.

"Ok Inuyasha, now if you are facing a building I want you to describe to me exactly how it looks and I will try to give you directions."

Silence came over the phone for a few moments as the hanyou took in the structure before him, wondering how he would describe some of the things he saw upon it that he didn't know the name of.

"It's tall…"

Kagome giggled, "Wow that about narrows it down to almost half the buildings in Tokyo."

A growl was issued forth from the hanyou, "You didn't let me finish wench! It's got those weird square red colored rocks all up the side of it." (Bricks)

"Mm-hm, and what else is there?" Kagome asked as she aimlessly stared out the window and into the window of the toy store that caught her eye across the street, which she noticed was also covered in bricks.

"The thing has got a bright yellow sign with a bunch of kids playin' on it."

The young miko became silent as she took in the looks of the toy store across the street, finding it odd that the things that Inuyasha described were exactly what were on the front of the store.

"_No, it couldn't be. It's only a coincidence! But knowing on him…"_

"Oi wench you still there?"

Clearing her throat she answered him back. "I'm still here. Inuyasha, does the building you're looking at have a giant teddy bear setting in the front window?"

By now the other women had caught on to what was happening between the two friends over the phone and started quietly giggling, (yes, even Kikyo) all of them knowing how dense Inuyasha could be at times.

"Yeah it does but how did you know?" They heard Inuyasha say over the line.

_"God I can't believe this!"_ Kagome thought as she told Inuyasha to hang on before she made her way out of the restaurant and to her car where she gazed up to the edge of the roof.

"Inuyasha, I want you to walk towards the building you were telling me about and stop at the edge of the roof."

She waited silently as she watched said hanyou make his way to the edge of WacDonald's roof and stop.

"Now look down." She spoke as he tilted his head to look directly at her. His annoyed face soon turned into to one of shock as he got a look at her dirty blonde hair and broken arm.

"What the hell happened to you wench?" He yelled over the phone.

Her soft giggle entered his ears as he watched her turn to unlock that rusted piece of metal she called a car.

"Well, you can thank my brother for my hair and as far as my arm goes… I'll explain what happened later, but now you need to come put the Tessaiga in my car so I can go back inside and finish eating. And you better do it because you know people don't carry around weapons like they used to."

Kagome heard the phone line go dead just as she got her car opened up. With great difficulty she was able to get the bottom of the backseat pulled up so she could hide the famous sword. Right after she got it moved the sword was thrust out in front of her while she was still bent over in the car.

"Wow Inuyasha, you sure are being compliant today. I usually have to 's-i-t' you to get you to leave Tessaiga someplace while you are here."

As usual, she rambled on about a couple other things while she began replacing the seat before she realized something was off. It sure seemed like there were an awful lot of items passed to her to hide. Thinking this odd, she peeked under the seat one last time and noticed there were a few to many items hidden underneath.

_"What in the world is Inuyasha doing with Miroku's staff and Shippo's spinning tops?" _She wondered.

"Alright Inuyasha what… Whoa!" She said surprised when she turned around to not only see Inuyasha but Suki and the rest of her Feudal friends as well, which was a shock in and of itself.

Ever so slowly, thinking that someone (or something) was possessing her beloved "sister", Sango walked up to Kagome and touched a few locks of her once raven hair with her fingers.

"Kagome, what happened to you?"

* * *

**A/N ~ I know, I know, this is pretty much filler but it is the best I can do for right now. I will try to make the next chapter longer, but with everything that has been going on around my house (specifically me having to pick up most of the extra work) I've REALLY been pressed for time.**

**ART CONTEST**** ~ In case anyone is interested my DeviantArt group Inuyasha's-Unsung-Spirits is holding an art contest. The theme is to draw the Inuyasha crew ****ELDERLY**** and if the character you wish to draw is elderly in the series then draw them ****YOUNG****. If anyone wants to submit a photo just find me on DA under the same name (Dapheshaggydoo) and you can get to my group from there.**

**Also, I got a Livestream account. If you Google "Daphne Doo's Doodles" it should pop right up for you.**

**Once again, I am sorry for not keeping with my schedule for updating BUT PLEASE STAY WITH ME! I PROMINSE NOT TO LAVE THE STORY HANGIN!**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED (I'll be expecting a few for this chapter) XD**

**PROUD TO BE A KAEDE/GRAMPS SUPPORTER!**


	27. Catch A Hanyou By His Claw, I Mean Toe

**Curiosity ~ Chapter Twenty-Seven ~ "Catch A Hanyou By His Claw… I Mean Toe."**

Sango wasn't the only one who was curious about Kagome's new look, the others in their party were also wondering what had happened and had voiced their concerns for they were wondering if she had been possessed.

"Don't worry guys!" She waved her hand in front of her face as if she were brushing the subject off. "I haven't been possessed. In my era people can dye their hair different colors if they don't like their natural color. My idiot brother decided that I needed to be blonde so he could tell Kikyo and me apart even though we were obviously wearing different clothing – the dope."

A small red blur thrust itself into her chest and clutched onto her top for dear life.

"Oh Kagome we were so worried that Kikyo had done something to hurt you and Granny Kaede. Wait where is Kaede? Kikyo didn't do anything to her did she?" Shippo spoke panicked.

"Yeah Gooey, where Ma-Maw?"

Kagome pet Shippo's head in order to try and calm him down.

"Don't worry, Kaede is just fine. She's inside with Kikyo and my school friends eating." She looked up to the rest of the group then.

"A bite to eat does sound good right about now. Shall I dispense the evil aura I feel surrounding this place in hopes of gaining a meal?" Sutras were starting to reveal themselves from the confines of the monk's robes but Kagome put a stop to it.

"I'm afraid that won't work in this era Miroku, not many people believe in demons anymore. Why don't we all head inside and I'll treat you?"

Everyone had agreed and with a few words of encouragement, Kagome had convinced Sango to leave her hiraikotsu lay on top her Edsel. After all, if Kagome couldn't lift the thing then how would anyone else be able to steal it? Besides, they could keep an eye on it from the window.

* * *

"Hey girls, mind pulling up another table so we can all eat together while I go get these guys something to eat?"

"No problem Kagome! By the way who is the cutie in the black and purple robes?" Eri batted her eyes flirtingly towards the monk only to suddenly find both he hands ensnared in his and a face mere inches from her own.

"Why I am known as Miroku my beautiful lady. Would you mind bearing my children?"

Something happened then to Miroku that had never occurred to him in his life before due to his famous question. Sure, he'd been smacked, smooched, chased out of town, and even knocked unconscious by a woman's husband for asking such a thing – but not once had he EVER been laughed at…

Well, until now that is.

"Kagome, don't tell me THIS is the guy that asked you to have his kid!"

"Miroku…" Said monk gulped when he heard Sango's "you're about to be slapped voice."

Thankfully he knew just how to pacify her rising temper.

Taking her hand, he led her to a set of chairs the girls had pulled up to accommodate their growing "party".

"Now my dear Sango, you don't wish to cause a scene do you? Rest assured I only asked her once and that was when we first met many moons ago. You are the only girl for me my beautiful taijiya." A confident smile crossed his face as he squeezed her petite yet calloused hand in his own before she abruptly pulled it away.

"I'll think about believing you when you stop your womanizing ways." She ground out before turning to be introduced to the three schoolgirls that sat across from her.

Ten minutes later, after all the introductions and the ordering of food had been dealt with, the Inu-tachi had what Kagome deemed "fast-food" setting in front of them. Once they had their first bite they just couldn't get enough. This stuff was better than Kagome's ninja food! Within minutes all of the food that Kagome had bought for them was gone, a thing that struck the three schoolgirls odd.

Yuka looked to the two girls sitting on either side of her and gave them the signal that they should go, which of course they voiced to Kagome.

"Do you really have to? If you wait a few minutes I can drive you home."

Ayumi smiled to Kagome as she shouldered her pack. "No, that's alright Kagome. I honestly don't think all of us would fit into your car and we've got some research to do at the library anyway. We'll see you later ok?" She walked over and hugged Kagome gently so as not to hurt her arm.

"I hope to see you all again sometime!" Ayumi waved as she started walking out the door.

"Try not to overdo it Kagome, we don't need you any sicker than you already are." Yuka patted her back as she began to follow Ayumi.

Eri though wasn't paying attention to Kagome. While Inuyasha was still eating what was left of his fries, she snuck up behind him and planted a big wet kiss on his cheek.

"Don't be a stranger ok Lover-boy!"

The teenage girls giggled at the blushing Inuyasha as they said goodbye again and left the restaurant but as soon as they got outside their expressions became serious. The people they had just met inside had practically confirmed their suspicions regarding Kagome and her many disappearances throughout this past year.

* * *

Their uncertainties had started after they'd gotten a preview of the things they would be study in history class about the Feudal Era. One of the stories that had popped up was the tale of an inu-hanyou and his band of "misfits" traveling across all of Japan to find the broken pieces of the Sacred Jewel.

Of course the three of them didn't think that was odd, in fact they were so intrigued with the tale that they had wanted to find out anything and everything they could about it.

Now… they wish they hadn't.

At first everything was alright, each girl getting excited when they found an interesting fact. All thought it cool when Ayumi discovered the inu-hanyou and his best-friend's names were the same as Kagome and her "jerk" of a boyfriend.

Who would have thought that two of their closest friends were named after the two leaders of the misfit group of saviors?

But what they found next in Ayumi's book certainly began to raise questions about their best-friend.

Described next in the book was a man – or a monk I should say – that had a cursed wind tunnel in his right hand. It wasn't this little fact that set them off, it was his name – Miroku – and the fact that he asked practically every woman he met to "bear his child."

Wasn't it odd how this man fit the description perfectly to that of the man Kagome had described to them only a few months prior?

What of the person on the following page? The small child written about upon the page appeared to be the one Kagome had claimed to babysit once or twice when she had muttered something about him one day.

As the three girls kept going from page to page realizing the "to close for comfort" similarities of the people in the book and those they had learned about in Kagome's personal life, they found the one thing that confirmed their suspicions.

On the final page was a faded photo, or a painting if you will, of what appeared to be a solider of some sort from that period of time, but with closer inspection on Yuka's part they discovered that the person on the page wasn't a soldier…

It was Inuyasha.

The background of the painting, from what they could make out, depicted a horrid battle full of bloodshed and killing; a sight that made them cringe.

In the middle of everything stood Inuyasha, the transformed Tessaiga in his clawed hand and what appeared to be his eyes bleeding red. He truly did look the part of a warrior out for vengeance against someone, but what he was fighting for no one knew…

That is, until they saw what lay curled tightly against his chest in his other arm.

* * *

Hoping against all hopes that what they had discovered in their history studies was wrong, the three began to make their way to the library just down the street in attempts to gather more information through their research.

But if what they had uncovered was actually true then they knew without a shadow of a doubt that their dearest friend in the world was in danger. 

* * *

**A/N ~ Sorry everyone! I felt that this was where I should stop for this chapter or the rest of it would have been filled with complete nonsense.**

**Feel free to throw stones at me.**

**I would like to ask if a couple of you would take the time to read my other fanfic "They Weren't The Only Ones" (A Kaede/Gramps pairing) ~ I added a second chapter to it a couple days ago and I would like some feedback on it. For some reason I feel like the second chapter is tacky and I would like to know if you feel the same.**

**Hey, did anyone notice they have a "Kagome's Mom" option but not a "Gramps" or "Kagome's Grandpa" option when it comes to characters?**

**My dad is doing better as well. Went in for his check-up last week and they told him that he didn't have to come back anymore, but he does have a twenty pound weight limit. It will take six months to a year for him to heal properly.**

**Feel free to flame me… I probably deserve it for the last two chapters.**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS! ~ THEY MAKE ME TYPE FASTER!**


	28. If He Hollers

**Curiosity ~ Chapter Twenty-Eight ~ "If He Hollers"**

Back inside WacDonald's, Inuyasha had just about had enough of the subject being changed on him at every turn.

How difficult could it be to just tell him what in the hell happened to the wench's arm? He didn't know how many times he had turned to ask the old hag what had occurred in his absence only to become distracted by Suki or interrupted by Kagome asking him some sort of useless question; which he knew she was doing that to try to veer him off course of getting an answer to his question.

Finally he couldn't take it anymore.

"Listen wench, I want to know how in the hell you broke your arm and I want to know now. Don't you dare try to stop her either Kikyo." His eyes narrowed just a bit to emphasize how serious he was.

Inuyasha didn't want to be mean to his first love, but he had noticed the last couple times he had asked Kagome about her arm a look appeared upon Kikyo's face that promised some sort of recourse if the young miko had said anything regarding the subject.

_"Could Kikyo have had something to do with this?" _He wondered absentmindedly.

"Well, out with it. What the f*** happened to you Kagome?"

A slap on his arm, courtesy of the small child sitting in his lap, made his gaze switch to her for a moment to see what was wrong.

"Ya-ya no say bad words." She chastised. "Have to be nice to Gooey and Kick-you cause they put Ya-ya in time out and make Ya-ya 'sit' if you don't be good boy."

The group had cracked up at not only what little Suki said but also at the dumbstruck look on Inuyasha's face. In fact, they were surprised when Kikyo herself let out a laugh or two. They hadn't known the elder priestess had a funny bone in that clay body of hers.

"Perhaps you should listen to the child Inuyasha; you might actually learn something from one so young. A few manners might actually keep you out of trouble, or would you rather go to sleep without your ramen for dinner?" Kikyo said jokingly, complete with a smile of pure joy on her face.

Was this what it felt like to be happy again; to have pure, unadulterated joy? Maybe she would gain more from this little escapade of hers than she thought. It made her feel good, no, feel human to laugh and be cheery; it certainly seemed like it made Kaede happy to see this side of her sister again – even if it did scare the others at their table a bit.

But back to the subject at hand -

"Wench I mean it, I want to know how you broke your arm."

"And I told you that I would explain later. Right now we have to go pick up Sota from his soccer game, go to the store, and get back home before Gramps goes crazy with Iza… I mean them in the house."

Kagome stood and took their waste to the trashcan and returned to grab her bag to get ready to go.

Miroku noticed Kagome's slip up. "Lady Kagome who is 'Iza' and why would she cause your grandfather to go crazy?"

"Um… She's my cousin! Yeah and she was supposed to help Gramps with a couple things today at the shrine because of how handy she is with repairing things. Isn't that what he said Kaede?"

The old priestess could tell that she was supposed to play along. "Aye child that is what he said."

Little did they know that their scents told a certain hanyou the truth about what they had just spoken.

_"What is she hiding?"_

* * *

It took her a while but Kagome finally convinced her Feudal Era friends that it was alright and that the car wouldn't eat them and it would let them out when they got to their destination. She tried to get everyone seated in the car but was delayed due to Inuyasha deciding to be an ass.

"I want to sit in the front. Somebody's gotta watch out in case something decides to attack your clumsy self."

A sigh escaped the young priestess. "For the last time, oldest person sits in the front and that just happens to be Kaede. Now can we please leave?"

"She ain't the oldest I am! Or did you forget that I'm over two hundred years old? Hey!"

Kagome ignored the hanyou and helped Kaede ease down into the passenger seat while the others got into the back. She just kept ignoring his ranting while she herself got into the driver's seat.

"Let me put it this way, my car, my rules. Kaede is riding in the front now get in the back or you can walk home." Boy was this day getting to her.

Making sure that everyone had their seatbelts on and that the Hiraikotsu was strapped down to the top of the Edsel, Kagome started the car (assuring everyone again that it wasn't a demon about to eat them) and took off towards the local soccer fields.

"My goodness Kagome you certainly have very good control over this beast." Sango praised.

Shippo jumped into the front to sit next to Kagome, watching her as she turned the round piece of plastic connected to the stick (steering wheel), he wondered what such a thing was used for.

"Kagome, what's that round thing for? Do you control the demon with it?" He asked innocently.

Giggling erupted from her; it was so cute how he asked that question that she just couldn't help herself.

"Yes Shippo, this is how I drive the car. Watch," She turned around the corner to the street that would lead her to the soccer fields. "See? I can make the car drive anyway I want."

A thought popped into her head then, one that she was sure Shippo would enjoy.

"Shippo, would you like to help me drive?"

"Really?" He was excited now.

"Yes, come here and put your hands on the wheel. Now you can't drive it by yourself but you can help me keep it steady alright."

A joyful smile spread its way across the kitsune's face as he took his spot on Kagome's lap and drove the car.

This was turning out to be a fun day indeed.

* * *

It took another five minutes to get to the fields. Most of the kids were already waiting at the curb for their rides but Kagome couldn't spot her brother in the crowd so she pulled up to the curb and honked the horn, which set everyone in the car on alert.

After she got them all calmed down Inuyasha noticed a taller boy walking towards Kagome and began to growl. When she turned to see what was the matter she was interrupted by a tapping at her window.

"Sis, please tell me that is the Hiraikotsu strapped to the top of your car!" The young man spoke excitedly.

Growling still escaped from the back seat.

"Shove off boy we're waitin' for the wench's brother not you!"

Said boy stuck his head through the window to look into the rest of the car.

"Hey Inu-nii-chan!" He promptly got his head shoved out the window for yelling in Kagome's ear.

"Souta, will you please stop freaking Inuyasha out and get in the very back set of seats? I've got to get to the store and get home to make dinner before Gramps gets upset."

Miroku could barely keep from laughing as he turned around and placed a hand on the hanyou's shoulder.

"Yes 'Dog Brother' please stop freaking out. You'll scare our lovely ladies." One hand tried to sneak over the seat to rest upon Sango's bosom, regrettably his attempt failed and he received a bright new red accessory to his face.

A slight blush appeared across the hanyou's cheeks before he erupted again as the young miko began to drive away.

"You can't be serious Kagome, that kid ain't your brother! Your brother a little brat!"

"Well it's not my fault he had a bizarre growth spurt in the month that we were gone."

Inuyasha could tell that he wasn't going to win this fight so he decided to drop it; he really didn't feel like being sat today, especially in front of Kikyo.

"Feh, whatever, and if you didn't notice wench that market of yours if the other way."

_"Oh he did not just do that."_Anger began to bubble throughout the young priestess.

"And if you didn't notice Inuyasha this is a one way street therefore I have to get to the end of the street before I can turn around and go back."

"You still ain't doin it right."

She stopped the car right then and there and turned her clearly annoyed face to the "loveable" hanyou.

"Don't you start Inuyasha; you know I don't like people backseat driving me! If you feel the need to keep going you can just get out of the car right now and walk home."

The hanyou just sat there silently staring, daring the miko to try to get him to leave the car. With a huff from Kagome, Inuyasha knew he had won this battle of wills.

_"That's one more for the hanyou." _He mentally added a tally to his score sheet.

* * *

The group of friends were amazed when they saw the size of the building that Kagome had said housed the market. Did her village really have that many merchants to warrant such a large marketplace?

But when they got inside – that was when they were truly awed.

Never in their lives had they seen so many wondrous things. They knew Kagome's time was advanced but they couldn't imagine anything like this! Inuyasha, Suki, and Kaede weren't too surprised by everything (after all, they'd been to this market before), but the rest of them were just itching to go through this new place and explore, and they just about did, that is until Kagome stopped them.

"I know this is all a lot to take in but will you guys please try to not look all bug-eyed. I figured we could split up into groups of two or three that way you wouldn't have to stay with me the entire time and it would give you all a chance to explore the modern market."

She noticed that Miroku hadn't seemed to be listening.

"Miroku you've got a bit of drool on your chin. Miroku? Hey are you ok?" She waved her hand in front of his face trying to snap him out of his daze.

Unfortunately for him it was Sango who made the connection between his daze and what he was looking at. The monk Miroku was staring at a female mannequin that was featuring clothing…

…from the lingerie section.

Determined to get the monk's prying eyes away from such scandalous clothing (at least in her opinion), Sango grabbed ahold of Miroku's ear and began to drag him towards the back if the store.

"Well now that that's taken care of, you guys can figure out whatever while I wonder off." Souta began to blow his sister off but a hand grabbing the collar of his shirt stopped him.

"Not so fast Souta, you're taking Shippo with you. Shippo, do you think that you could change yourself into a human for about half an hour?"

Shippo was excited, he had been practicing his fox magic for a while now and this would be the first time he'd get to try it out for a long amount of time. He gently eased his way out of the piece of cloth that was holding Kagome's broken arm in place and with a small poof an eight-year-old human child. (He was hiding because he didn't want to scare the humans in the store.)

As he went off with Souta, Kagome grabbed a large cart and began to make her way to the beginning of the grocery aisles when a disgruntled hanyou stopped her.

"My ramen comes first wench."

"Inuyasha that's clear in the middle of the store, it's easier to make my way from one side of the store to the other. Can't you wait?"

The look on his face clearly showed that he didn't want to wait for his beloved noodles.

"Ugh fine, how about you go get a cart and go get the ramen yourself?"

Before she even finished speaking he was back with one of the large carts.

"Oh no Inuyasha, go get one of the smaller ones. I can't carry that much ramen with all of the other supplies."

With a returning "feh" he came back with the smaller cart and got the directions to where his beloved ramen was.

"Alright, come on Suki let's go!" Kagome began to attempt to lift the little girl into her cart but Suki had run away giggling and attached herself to Inuyasha's leg.

"Suki go with Ya-ya!" The proud child had declared.

Kagome bent down to Suki's level. "Now Suki, I think that Inuyasha can get his ramen by himself, he is a big boy after all."

"No, stay wiff Ya-ya!" She grasps his leg tighter and buried her face into his hakama.

"Suki…"

"Leave the kid alone, she can come with me if it will get her to shut up. Come on Kikyo."

A cheer of joy erupted from the three year old as she raised her arms up to the hanyou in silent begging to be carried to which the hanyou complied, after all, how could he say no to the little girl he thought of as a daughter. (Though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he has to keep his pride you know.)

Inuyasha hadn't even stayed to get the directions for where his ramen was; he just followed the scent of his favorite noodles, leaving the two miko's behind.

* * *

The adventure surrounding the purchase of supplies for the upcoming trip was certainly an eventful one, or in Kagome's case a nightmare.

She'd been called over the intercom a total of three times to deal with a great variety of things, and boy did she not want to think about it. Let's just say that the calls involved Miroku harassing one of the female employee's, Shippo just about setting the toy department on fire (he thought the talking toys were demon possessed), and the last, once again, being Miroku; seems he was trying to get some of the girls to model some of the more skimpy lingerie. It was all she could do to keep him from getting arrested.

Thank God Kaede, Sango, Kikyo, and surprisingly Inuyasha had enough sense not to do something so stupid.

Speaking of Inuyasha, it certainly made Kagome's day a little brighter when she found out about his little occurrence that happened while he was getting his treasured ramen.

_***With Inuyasha, Kikyo, and Suki in the Ramen aisle before they left the store***_

__It didn't take the hanyou long to find his way his way to the aisle that held his beloved treat, nor did it take any longer to locate on said aisle. His mouth was watering when he saw all of the ramen that was stocked upon the shelves. He couldn't wait to get home and start eating it, just the thought of it was making him hungry as his hands inched closer to the shelves.

If only Kikyo hadn't interrupted him.

"Why do you require such food? Is there not plenty of food in our own era? Or is it that you are getting lazy in your hanyou ways?"

People were staring at her while she was talking and Inuyasha noticed this. What the hell was their problem? Hadn't they ever heard someone talk before? A feeling of protectiveness fell over him and he turned to put his full attention upon Kikyo, leaving Suki to her own deeds.

"You know damn good and well that I ain't lazy. And as far as the food goes, don't you remember before the whole Naraku thing happened and we had to make camp in those demon infested forests? I knew you could take care of yourself while I went to hunt but I could also sense the nervousness you tried so hard to hide. Taking food from this era just makes a few things easier; I do hunt when I can, but sometimes it's easier for the wench to just make up some of her instant food, especially if it's just after a fight and I'm down for the count."

He huffed and struck his normal arrogant pose before closing his eyes and started to turn back towards his cart.

"If you don't got any more questions Kikyo I'd like to get the ninja food and get out of here; to many humans in this damn place and it's… what the heck did you do kid?"

It was then that he had opened his eyes to reveal a grinning Suki and his cart already filled with ramen; all of it the same flavor… his least favorite flavor… shrimp.

The giggling of the little girl brought his gaze from the overflowing cart to the grinning child; her hands covering her mouth, attempting to keep her giggles in.

"What in the world did you do kid?" Inuyasha's eye twitched in irritation.

Suki looked up innocently to her favorite hanyou.

"Ya-ya needed all the pretty pink ones!"

He lifted her up into his arms. "You know I don't like the shrimp ones."

"But Suki like the pretty pink ones and so does Ya-ya!"

"We're putting them back kid, I ain't getting them."

"Yes!" Suki crossed her arms and gave Inuyasha a pointed stare.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

Inuyasha started to see the quivering of a bottom lip and decided he really didn't want to deal with a crying child.

"Keh, fine we'll get SOME of the shrimp but the rest of it I get to pick out ok?"

Suki's face instantly brightened. "Yay!" Her chubby little arms wound themselves around Inuyasha's neck and squeezed him as tight as her child-like muscles would allow. When she pulled away, much to the hanyou's surprise, she gave him a big wet kiss right on his cheek.

An older woman's laugh interrupted their little moment.

"Your daughter is very cute. You both must be very proud of her." The woman praised before she walked away to finish her shopping, leaving the two shocked adults to blatantly stare at each other.

Kikyo was sure that she was blushing, although she had no idea how since her body was now made of clay, and Inuyasha's jaw was practically on the ground in disbelief. Once, years ago, both had thought about the possibility of having a family, but that dream had been lost.

Neither knew what to say to the other to get over the awkwardness of the situation. Thankfully though, Suki took care of that for them… well, sort of.

The little girl had gripped the hanyou in the biggest, strongest bear hug her little body could muster and practically announced to everyone in the store -

"I love you Daddy Ya-ya!"

_***Back at the Sunset Shrine unloading the groceries from the car***_

__Inuyasha noticed that Kagome had been quiet during the entire ride home and it was beginning to bug him. He knew that she must have been up to something due to the glittering look in her eyes and the smile across her face.

While he gathered all of his ramen into his arms he made the decision to get to the bottom of whatever she was planning.

"What are you scheming wench? I know there's something bouncing around in that head of yours."

It was getting harder and harder for the young miko to contain her laughter. She ignored Inuyasha while she took up one of the many shopping bags and began following her friends to her home. She could sense the anger pouring off of Inuyasha where she left him at the car.

Figuring that she let him linger enough, Kagome turned around when she got to the back door and called back to him.

"Well come on Daddy Ya-ya! You wouldn't want Shippo and Suki to eat all of your ramen would you?"

"Oi!" 

* * *

**A/N ~ Thought I would make a lighter chapter before I get into the next set of epicness. Just so everyone knows, I am trying to get back into a schedule for getting the chapters up… Hopefully within the next month everything will be back to normal.**

Suki has a BIG obsession with pink... god I loved writing that part! XD

**SPOILER ALERT! ~ One of the upcoming OC I'm going to present will be nicknamed "Zebra". Can you guess who that person might possibly be related to? (OMG DOUBLE SPOILER!)**

**Did anyone get the chance to read the second chapter of "They Weren't The Only Ones" (posted here on FF)? I was wondering if anyone thought if I should expand on the Gramps/Kaede pairing… just wondering your thoughts.**

**BIG THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO SUBSCRIBED AND FAVED AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER! I REALLY LOVE YOU GUYS!**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED ~ REVIEWS MAKE ME TYPE FASTER!**

**PROUD TO BE A KAEDE/GRAMPS SUPPORTER! 3 3**


	29. Sit Him Down

**Curiosity ~ Chapter Twenty-Nine ~ "Sit Him Down"**

* * *

It had been two days since everyone had made their way to Kagome's era and boy was the house crowded. Thankfully Aunt Aisha had come to gather up Suki yesterday or they would have had an even bigger issue about sleeping arrangements since Mama had come back from Osaka the day before.

The first night was the most difficult due to the sleeping arrangements, after all, who would have thought that so many people would be staying in the Higurashi household at one time? But thankfully everything smoothed itself out and the beds were divided up amongst the houseguests without too much trouble.

Kagome of course made sure that Miroku was away from Sango, who was occupying Kagome's room since Suki had gone back home; the last thing she wanted to deal with was a middle of the night groping. Souta was thrilled to death having Inuyasha sleep in his room for the "mini vacation" as he had deemed it. Miroku staying in his room was just an added bonus. Boy was he going to kick these guys at video games!

The oddest thing, at least to Kagome, was how fast Gramps had offered up his room for Kaede to share with him. Well, his specific words were more along the lines of "what are a couple of old fuddy-duddy's like us going to do? Have a wild 'adult' party?" He had been promptly smacked by a fiercely blushing Kaede.

God she loved the way older people talked sometimes. She did find it odd though how even though the elderly priestess was embarrassed in front of Kikyo she still accepted Gramps offer. It was only Kagome though who noticed that Gramps only had one bed in his room.

Something was definitely going on between those two; she just didn't know what yet.

But she couldn't dwell on that right now. Homework needed done and reports had to be written, she would have to dwell on whatever was developing between Kaede and her Gramps later. Although she was discretely happy that they had some sort of affection for each other, they'd both been a bit down lately and Kagome was glad to see both of them happy.

* * *

"Well wench, are you gonna tell me how or broke your arm now or am I going to have to beat it out of you?"

A surprised scream escaped from the young miko who sat in the darkened living room of the Higurashi household. Finally realizing who was in the dimly lit room with her, Kagome let out a groan. All she had wanted to do was get her over-do homework done and get through the rest of the night without having to dote over the subject of her broken arm; she just hoped to God that Inuyasha didn't notice the lingering strangulation marks upon her neck that were left from his brother's little visit to Kaede's hut. The girl had thought that if she kept her bruises covered with concealer and Inuyasha busy and distracted that he would forget to ask her anymore about it. Sadly luck wasn't on her side.

Said hanyou plopped down on the couch beside her and set his usual annoyed scowl upon his handsome face. It was then that he noticed just how many papers were setting in front of Kagome. Did she usually have this much of that "homework" she keeps yacking about?

"I want to know and I mean now. You've been avoiding the subject for two days and it's time I got some answers. And what's with all the paper? You can't be that behind in those 'tests' of yours; you only came back a month ago and brought back at least half of what's laying there."

A forced smile was only part of his reply. "That's what happens when a certain hanyou takes a certain untrained miko/student's finished homework and hides it from her. Yes, that's right Inuyasha, I found your hiding place in Kaede's hut and I must say that I am very disappointed in you."

That wasn't the whole truth though, of course she knew Inuyasha could tell by her scent alone, but she wasn't ready yet to tell him that she was taking two grades at the same time to finish school faster for him. It would be a nice surprise for him at the end of the school year to learn that she had a full year free for shard hunting. (If they were still hunting for the jewel shards that is.)

Inuyasha, amazingly, just sat on his side of the couch watching the miko do her schoolwork she complained so much about. He could tell by just a glance that Kagome was tired and that she was trying to hide it, but there was something else wrong with her and he knew it.

He had noticed that when he sat down Kagome had instantly covered the side of her neck that was facing him with her hair. Not only did he find that suspicious, but it also irked him. Just what did she not want him to see? It was just moments later, thanks to whatever God's were on his side, that the young miko slipped up and flipped her hair to her opposite shoulder; revealing what she was trying so hard to hide.

Bruises marred her neck. The hanyou couldn't tell exactly how bad they were due to the dim lights, but that was soon remedied by flipping the table lamp's switch and what the extra lights had exposed made him growl.

Not only were the bruises on her neck but there were slight claw marks as well; which told him whoever had done his to her was most definitely a demon and oh were they going to pay. First he had to find out who did it.

Kagome was jostled out of her tunnel vision by the unexpected growl from Inuyasha. She hadn't even noticed that the lights had been turned on nor that she had flipped her hair to her opposite shoulder.

_"I guess it's time to face the music." _Boy her nerves were giving her a run for her money.

"Kagome, you better tell me right now who caused those bruises and I mean now. And why the hell didn't you tell me someone tried to choke you?" He needed to calm down and quick, Kagome could already see the outline of his demonic stripes on his cheeks and she really didn't want to have to explain to her family why there was a demonic Inuyasha running around the house.

Besides that why was he getting so upset? She'd gotten even worse wounds before and he'd never given this kind of reaction before. What made this incident any different than the others?

If only she'd known that he recognized who the handprint belonged to due to the outline that was left upon her neck. Now all he had to do was get a conformation from Kagome and he would go kill that bastard once and for all.

_"There's no way in hell that that bastard will lay another his damn hand on my mate again."_

Whoa, where did that come from?

"Inuyasha will you please stop growling? You're starting to scare me."

He abided Kagome's request, but that didn't mean that there wouldn't be any more growling tonight. That he was sure of.

"Now Inuyasha you've got to understand, I sort of deserved it because I insulted him and…"

"Kagome just stop beating around the bush and tell me who the hell did this to you!"

"I honestly didn't know that he was there at the time but I was so caught up in the situation with everything that happened."

"Wench I…"

He stopped then; another, no, two scents had suddenly appeared inside the Higurashi residence and assaulted his nose. Apparently, the two "special guests" outside didn't know the situation of what was going on inside the house at that moment.

If only they knew that this moment was the worst possible one to reveal themselves to the hanyou.

Inuyasha's nose was working overtime. It couldn't be true what he was scenting, but he had to be sure. Quickly he stood up and left a bewildered Kagome alone on in the living room as he followed the scent throughout the house to where it was strongest….

…Mama Higurashi's room.

Not caring whether or not he woke Arisu up or not; Inuyasha quickly opened up the door and followed his nose to the only piece of clothing that didn't fit in with the rest of the room.

A single obi lay on the floor next to Arisu's bed; one he knew all too well. Memories began to assault his mind as he slowly picked up the decorative flower encrusted obi and sniffed it before he started to become angry.

No, it couldn't be true. That bastard was probably trying to get to his sword again. Like hell would he let that happen. But there was a more pressing matter at hand. He needed to find that phony and whoever was with it – her – before it decided to hurt someone, or even worse… kill.

Another growl escaped his throat as he exited Mama Higurashi's room, intent on questioning Kagome about this new development.

"Inuyasha, are you alright honey?" Her questioned was ignored as Arisu quickly donned her robe, determined to see what all of the ruckus was about. 

* * *

A hop, skip, and a jump later he was standing in front of Kagome waving the obi in front of her face.

"You better tell me right now wench and I want a straight answer; what the hell is my mother's scent doing in your house and who does the other scent belong to?"

The stripes were appearing again. Never had this happened twice in one day, Kagome was truly worried for him. She took a deep breath, readying herself to attempt to explain everything that had happened before he had gotten there. Another decided to do that for her.

"There is no need for you to speak to young Kagome in such a way. I expect your mother raised you better than that."

"And what do you know about how I was…"

What Inuyasha found when he turned around made him stop cold. The people before him certainly couldn't be real right? Wait, one of them moved, did that mean this wasn't a dream but reality?

A dainty hand gently laid itself upon his shoulder and ever so slightly squeezed in silent support before making its way to cup his cheek.

"Inu… sweetie, I think you'd better sit down." 

* * *

**A/N ~ CLIFFY! (Although I am pretty sure you guys know who it is and what's about to happen.)**

**Final word count (minus A/N) – 1,772**

**A side note - Arisu is the name I decided to give Mama Higurashi. It is the Japanese version of our "Alice" and means "of Noble sort". This is actually a key part to the story that will appear within the next ten to fifteen chapters. (Depending on how the story types out) Bet you guys can't figure out what I've got in the works!**

**So hope you guys like this one. Really am trying not to fill this story with nonsense but sometimes I just can't help it.**

**I know I am trying to get back to a regular schedule but it will be another little while before everything settles down. Dad is messing with his meds and his blood pressure is way too high – 198/96 (It's SUPPOSED to be 120/80) So yeah, we're (myself & mom) are fighting with him to take his meds. And that's just oh-so-super-neato-fun! *sarcasm people***

**Will some of you please check out my other Inuyasha fanfic "If Only In Reality"? It is a fic currently told in drabbles and will be a darker fic revolving around Kagome and a couple other canon characters. There are six chapters now and what is written now will lead up to a story that I have NEVER SEEN in an Inuyasha fanfic before. Expect to use a box of Kleenex in the future folks!**

**PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT/REVIEW! – FLAMES WELCOMED!**


	30. Let The Games Begin

**Curiosity – Chapter 30 – "Let The Games Begin"**

* * *

Inuyasha just stood there like he was frozen. He couldn't stop staring at the woman before him that so resembled his mother. Surely it wasn't really her; but the hand that lay upon his shoulder felt too real. She had to be a figment of his imagination. Yeah, that's it, he was just so stressed out that the human and demon standing before him were just a mirage.

But he felt her squeeze his shoulder again and saw her brow furrow in concern. Did that mean?

No! He wouldn't be fooled again!

A fire lit up in the eyes that so resembled that of the demon standing behind his so called "mother" as he harshly shoved Izayoi's hand from his shoulder and retreated from the house and into the surrounding forest.

"Inuyasha please come back!" Izayoi started to follow out after him but was stopped when an unknown woman (to her) stopped her from leaving.

"Please stay inside. It's not that he doesn't want to see you; this is only his way of coping when he is overwhelmed. I'm sure he'll be alright later in the day."

"And who exactly are you to say that about my son?" Touga questioned the woman; he could tell that he'd seen her before but she couldn't exactly place where; though he was impressed when she bowed before him, acknowledging his title as a Lord (or ex-Lord), showing that she had indeed been trained in the ways of how to treat royalty.

"Forgive me, my name is Arisu Higurashi and I am Kagome's mother. I know about what he is doing through past experiences with him. He often goes and sits in a tree somewhere among the shrine grounds when he is upset, angry, or contemplating something. Just give him some time and I'm sure he will be down by the end of the day."

As Arisu continued to tell Touga what she knew about Inuyasha, at his request, Izayoi looked out the door longingly in the direction that her child had run off to. She knew that Inuyasha had changed since he was but a small boy, but would he truly abandon his own mother AND father now that they had come back to him?

She never noticed the tears that were running down her face until she felt a clawed thumb wipe them away. Gazing up into her mate's face, she gave him a watery smile before leaning into his embrace and having him guide her back into the house to get some much needed sleep.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

* * *

When sunrise came and the household began to waken there were still no signs of Inuyasha returning anytime soon. Kagome figured that he had most likely returned to the Feudal Era, not wanting to be disturbed.

The wench didn't know what she was talking about.

He'd been right next to the house the entire time; perched in the closest tree he could find by the house. There was no way in hell he was going to leave the Higurashi family and his friends in the company of his so called "parents". Why weren't the others weary of the two people as he was? Didn't they find it suspicious in the least?

_"Probably not, with the way the wench see's things she most likely weaseled her way around her words to make it sound like they were 'okay' and 'harmless'. Damn wench is going to get herself in trouble one of these days and I'm just gonna leave her sorry ass be to accept the consequences of her actions."_

"Keh, can't do that; it'll just get me sat." He thought aloud as he continued to watch the house.

What disturbed him the most was how many times he'd seen the old hag and Kagome's grandfather sneaking around the store houses like a couple of horny teenagers. Never once did he smell them... that way… on the other, though one time the scent was close; they'd obviously been interrupted, but every time he saw them one or the other was out of breath and both were blushing like mad.

Just what the hell was going on around here?

One way or another he was going to corner that wench sometime today and get some answers – whether she liked it or not.

* * *

The hanyou had bided his time the entire day, not bothering once to move out of his tree even when Arisu had come and tried to coax him with ramen. There was just no way was he going to go near the two people who he had longed for the most in his childhood.

Why couldn't the mortals below him figure it out? It honestly wasn't that hard to understand the reason behind his reclusiveness but he supposed he couldn't blame them. None of them had ever been put in this situation before so it must have just seemed stupid to them as to the way he was acting.

But he really didn't care about what they thought right now.

Inuyasha watched Izayoi and Touga walk out of the Higurashi household hand in hand and into the surrounding forest. This was the third time they had gone for a walk today and from what he could figure they were just trying to lure him off of his perch.

Keh – like that would work.

His golden gaze turned to the sky in attempt to determine the time. If what he determined from the position of the sun was right, Kagome's "test demon" should be letting her go by now.

It was time to put his plan into action.

Little did he know that both the golden and brown gazes of his parents were watching him as he left, each with a smile across their face.

* * *

"Sorry guys I can't go to WacDonald's today, I've got to get home and help with my visiting family."

The three girls that surrounded Kagome sighed in response. This was the second day their friend had to rush home and attend to her guests. Would her mother really be so mad if they had just a small bit of girl time?

"Kagome how much longer will your family be staying over; we really need to have some girl time!" Yuka wined as she laid her head on Kagome's uninjured shoulder.

Said girl opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by the gruff hanyou yanking her away from her friends.

"Look woman I've got a bone to pick with you and…"

"Oh so THIS is why you've been rushing home so much!" Eri winked at Kagome appreciatively before eyeing Inuyasha up and down. Just what kind of body was this guy hiding under all those baggy clothes?

Stepping in before the two went too far, Ayumi took hold of an arm on either girl and began to drag them down the street towards her house, yelling a good-bye in her wake and reminding the young miko not to have too much fun.

Catching the hidden meaning behind the girl's remark, Kagome's face turned beet red while trying to avoid Inuyasha's questioning stares.

"Oi wench, are you ok?"

Sure that her blush had gone, Kagome gazed up at the hanyou, contemplating her answer.

_"Well at least he remembered to wear a cap."_

"Um… I'm fine. What are you doing here? Did Mama send you to get me or something?"

His response was turning his back to her and lowing to a crouch, a position that Kagome was way too familiar with. Knowing that he wouldn't talk until he was good and ready, Kagome clamored up onto his back and tried to hold on as best as she could with her one good arm.

The hanyou stopped on a random rooftop only two blocks from Kagome's home.

"Inuyasha what's the matter? I know there's something bothering you, so what is it?" The way he was acting was really concerning Kagome. He hadn't been this quiet in a long while.

Facing away from her, Inuyasha took a deep breath before he began to… well… he didn't know what he was going to do, but he was damn well going to do it!

"I want to know what happened Kagome; from beginning to end. How did it come to be that my… no, the look-a-likes of my parents came to be in your home?"

She'd barely heard his whispered question but she'd gotten the gist of what little she'd been able to hear to answer him.

Kagome walked up to him and placed her good hand upon his shoulder and lain her head upon his shoulder blade as she'd done so many times before. She felt the need to give him support as she spun the unbelieving tale.

She started with when Izayoi had appeared before Kaede's door and requested help and went on from there. When she got to the part of how she'd called his elder brother an idiot in her fits of hysteria she'd heard Inuyasha growl while he turned to examine the almost non-existent bruises still on her neck.

"He did this didn't he?" Her silence was all he needed for an answer as he gently touched the small claw indentations that would forever scar her. That was the fate of being attacked by the claws of a poison youkai; they always left a mark on their surviving victims.

"I'll kill him Kagome. I'll make him pay for ever laying a hand on you." He vowed earning an appreciative smile from the priestess before him.

* * *

As she continued on with what had happened in his absence, Inuyasha decided they should probably start walking back to the shrine before Arisu became upset. Grabbing hold of Kagome and checking to make sure no one saw him, Inuyasha jumped off of the building and onto the sidewalk below before both began walking home.

Not once did Kagome mention anything that Kikyo had made her do before being forced to bring her to the modern era. She figured Inuyasha was more interested as to why she'd brought two specific people with her.

They turned the corner, only steps before they would reach the stairs that led up to the shrine and the inu-hanyou stopped dead in his tracks. It took Kagome a few seconds to realize he had stopped; she gazed back at him in wonder.

"Inuyasha are you…"

He was by her side in a moment's notice, gazing down at her with honeyed eyes that made her melt.

"Why? Why did you bring them back here? Did you not think that they might hurt your family? How did you know that they weren't a pair of those un-things like Sesshomaru used on me before?"

Kagome needed a few seconds to think of a response so she began to walk up the stairs, Inuyasha right at her side every step of the way.

"I had a gut feeling." She started out. "You know they asked me to help them reconnect with you, why would I not help them with that?"

Both paused as they reached the top of the stairs, neither saying a word.

"Inuyasha - all I've ever wanted is for you to be happy. I thought you'd be ecstatic to have your parents back. You are, aren't you?"

Another deep breath escaped the hanyou as he studied a particularly interesting piece of stone.

"I ain't getting my hopes up. Do you honestly blame me for not being all excited about my mother coming back to me? Do you have any idea how badly I want to thrust myself into her arms and never let her go?" He turned to stare deeply into the young miko's eyes, in an attempt to get his point across.

"Kagome, I've already lost her once. Practically twice if you include my damn half-brother's stupid little stunt. Do you honestly think I want to lose her for a third time?"

"Oh sweetie, I won't leave you again. Not for a very long time."

Both turned to stare at the pair who were in turn staring back at them. They could see the tears in Izayoi's eyes as she slowly opened up her arms in a welcoming gesture. It was oddly reminiscent of the last time she'd popped up on this plain.

"Come here Inuyasha. Would you please give your mother a hug?"

Honeyed eyes hardened as he took a protective stance before Kagome; silently fearing the worst about the two before him.

"Like hell I'm going to fall for that one again you lousy fake of a woman!" Inuyasha bared his fangs, prepared to do anything to for the woman standing behind him.

Extremely loud growling erupted from the once Western Lord as he too shoved his mate behind him; he too baring his fangs at his youngest son.

"You will apologize to your mother now pup or you will face the consequences!"

"Like hell I will beg for forgiveness from a person who I know ain't my mother. I ain't f***ing stupid like everyone thinks a hanyou is! I'm not falling for some damn copy of my mother and now my own father!"

With patience wearing thin, Inuyasha grasp the hilt of his Tessaiga, pulling it out to take care of the two counterfeits in front of him once and for all.

If only something hadn't barreled into his side in that exact instant; pinning him to the Sacred Tree by the neck almost two foot off the ground.

Dueling growls sounded throughout the air as golden eyes began to bleed red.

This was going to be bloody. 

* * *

**A/N ~ Total word count (not including A/N) – 2,271**

A side note - the "test demon" mentioned towards the middle is Kagome's school... just wanted to avoid confusion.

**I would like to apologize for the late update (chapter 29) – I got a review about updating quicker and I kept thinking "wait, I updated last week. What do they want, every day or something?" Then I realized that it was my OTHER fanfic that I had updated last week ("If Only In Reality") and it had been almost a month since I updated this one. Sorry guys!**

**I would also like to THANK all of you who still read, review, comment, fave, story alert, author alert, EVERYTHING!**

**YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!**

**Promise not to go so long without updating next time. Possibly next week will be a new one of "Curiosity" but check up on "If Only In Reality" too – sometimes I get depressed and feel the need to update my darker fic.**

**Also watch for a third installment of "They Weren't The Only Ones" – my Kaede/Gramps fic.**

**PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS/COMMENTS! – FLAMES WELCOMED**


	31. Let's Get Ready To Rumble

**Curiosity – Chapter 31 – "Let's Get Ready To Rumble"**

* * *

The growls coming from the two underneath the bows of the Sacred Tree only intensified with time. Already all of the humans and demons that were staying under the Higurashi roof were out in the courtyard; some preparing to intervene during the battle if necessary while the others, whom had never seen a fight of this magnitude before, stood near what they had considered would be the sidelines.

The Higurashi's – minus Kagome – were amazed at how each of the shard hunters positioned themselves in a semi-circle around the growling pair; it showed just how much they were in sync with each other. Each of them had their weapon poised and ready for action at any given moment. Even Kagome had abandoned her school bag and accepted the bow and quiver offered by Kaede before placing herself between the commencing fight and her family.

One thing was definite in Kagome's mind; it didn't matter how injured she was, so long as the people she loved were safe she would take on any and all pain if it meant that they would come out unscathed.

Sounds of a body colliding with the ground brought everyone's attention back to the two growling inu's; both readying their claws for what was sure to be a bloodbath.

It had been so long since any of the group had seen Inuyasha this angry, it had certainly shocked Kikyo. Never had she seen such menacing looks upon his face before. Was this his true anger coming forth from him?

And what was the deal with the faint stripes beginning to adorn his cheeks?

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The irate hanyou yelled out.

A single hard slap was his only answer, sending him straight into the shrine's stone walkway again.

Snarling in retort, Inuyasha quickly brought himself to his feet and began to draw his Tessaiga again; only to be shoved in the side once again which sent his sword flying and caused him to meet his newest buddy – Mr. Stone.

"How dare you dishonor your sire by pulling out his own sword on him." A kick to the ribs followed in the voices wake.

Anger filled honey colored eyes glared into those that so matched his own as he quickly bounced up and began the first of many attacks with his claws. He didn't even get close enough to strike before the person disappeared only to find himself being hurled into the Sacred Tree moments later.

* * *

Izayoi looked on, her eyes filled with terror. He couldn't get hurt – no, scratch that – neither of them could get hurt. She loved both of them to pieces and if something happened to either one of them her heart would break in so many tiny bits that no one would ever be able to put her back together.

Steeling her resolve, the former Lady of the Western Lands began to make her way to the center of the fight, intent on having the two dueling youkai talk it out instead of using their fists… err.. claws.

It was too bad that she never made it that far. The young monk, his name escaped her at the moment, had stopped her.

"My Lady, if you truly are Inuyasha's mother then you must stay back. It would kill him inside if any harm were to come to you after he has just gained you back."

No reasoning was going to stop her and she began to struggle against the grip he had upon her arm.

"Please stop this! Inuyasha has every right to doubt me after the stories I've been told today!" She just hoped that pleading with them would work. She couldn't stand to see her only child covered in wounds after all the torment he went through as a child.

"The whelp has to be justly punished. He has attempted to draw the Tessaiga against his own sire, the one who had it forged from his own fang, and for this he must suffer."

* * *

What the hell was wrong with him? He hadn't fought this badly since that time he sent Kagome back to her era and stuffed the well with a tree.

Was the fact that his mother was back distracting him that badly?

Ugh, another set of claw marks adorned his battered and bruised body. Why couldn't he fight?

Inuyasha barely dodged another blow before finally blanking out his entire mind. He needed to focus on the fight at hand and not whether or not the woman standing not ten feet away was truly his mother come back to him.

It was time to bring out the big guns.

* * *

Only one of the many standing in the courtyard of the Sunset Shrine noticed the large female white dog still on the premises. But didn't she follow little Suki home with her pups?

And just what was she still doing here?

He watched the worry that was etched in her furry face, she looked almost human like from the expression that rest upon her muzzle. What was she thinking about? Was she going to join the fight or stay off to the side?

No, he could see it now; see exactly what she was going to do just from her pose.

Not a moment later did a long howl enter the air followed by two others, each sounding more urgent than the last, but there was only one thing he couldn't put his finger on.

Exactly who was Tinkerbell howling for? 

* * *

**A/N – Total word count – 925**

**Yes, I know a short one AND** **THREE ****cliffies on top of that! Ha ha ha ~ I am truly evil!**

**I will be updating another time this week, but I know that it will also be short… I've got training to go to so I can work an election poll, got to finish my parade float, AND run down a '58 Edsel master cylinder. You know, it really sucks when you get your (my) car running only to find out you don't have any brakes… -_-**

**Geez, I bet you guys are just DYING to know who Inuyasha is fighting with, what he has planned, and what Tinkerbell has got up that furry little sleeve of hers… but…**

**I'M NOT GONNA TELL YOU! *evil laughter***

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**


	32. Sticks and Stones

**Curiosity – Chapter 32 – "Sticks and Stones"**

* * *

Punch…

Dodge…

Claw…

Jump…

Damn this process was getting tiring! How much longer was the bastard going to continue doing this? Was it honestly so bad that he pulled the Tessaiga against the old man?

And why the hell was said old man just standing right beside the shrine steps where he'd been when this whole thing started.

Did he not care that his two sons were practically tearing each other to pieces?

"You should learn to pay attention to your opponent fool!"

Sesshomaru dealt another blow to Inuyasha, sending him flying once again, this time landing almost at the feet of his father. The man towering above him kept his eyes on the battle at hand as Inuyasha made his way back to adorn his half-brother with a new set of wounds. Apparently not willing to help either one of his sons -

This was what got his mate so very riled at him.

"What do you think you are doing just standing here Touga? You should be out there stopping them, not witnessing their bloodshed as a simple spectator!"

His eyes never left the dueling brothers as he considered how exactly he was going to explain what was happening before her in a way his mortal mate would understand. Of course Touga could comprehend where she was coming from with her worries, and even from the cries of fear that tore from her mouth every time his eldest managed a hit with his poison whip; she knew just how potent that stuff could be.

"We must leave them be Izayoi." Anger filled eyes looked to him again. "They are only fighting for dominance. Although Sesshomaru is the eldest, and is therefore already holding the better position of the two in our pack, it seems that they fight not for the kill but for my attention."

"You mean to say that they are vying for who gets more of your time?" Surely that couldn't be it.

A nod from Touga confirmed her suspicions. "Although I don't believe Inuyasha knows exactly what he is doing and is going purely on instincts, this is what he is doing."

He wrapped an arm around his mate, drawing her in close. "I know he says we aren't his parents on the outside, but I believe that deep down he knows we have come back to him. It is only due to his life after we both were killed that he is acting this way. Perhaps with time he will come to terms and accept us."

"But must we still allow them to do this?"

Once again Touga tried to explain what had to happen between the two brothers and why.

It was unfortunate that neither noticed just how bad the battle was becoming.

* * *

It took all Kagome had not to jump in the middle and intervene. It was bad enough that one way or another Sesshomaru had gotten through the well; but the worst thing that happened so far was when Inuyasha had Tessaiga separated from him.

And they all knew what happened when that terrible event occurred.

She could tell that Inuyasha was trying; he'd actually laid quite a few good blows on his brother, but not enough to slow him down. It took a lot more than a couple dozen "iron reaver soul stealer's" to get that man… demon off his feet. After all, the only time Inuyasha had ever injured Sesshomaru enough to cause him harm was when he'd first discovered the wind scar.

Kagome was sure the hanyou wasn't going to magically pull a new attack out of his fire-rat anytime soon.

* * *

Did the bastard ever get any of his f***ing poison on himself?

That shit hurt!

But no matter how many injuries marred his body he wasn't going to step down; not with his old man and mother watching. No one was going to look down and take pity upon him for being hanyou.

Yeah, he knew his "mother" loved him no matter what but he had no idea how his "father" felt about his half-breed son and somewhere down in his locked up heart he felt the need to make him proud.

Within the next few minutes he had laid a few more good punches and kicks; even a couple bouts of "blades of blood", but that still didn't slow his bastard brother down.

It appeared that with every hit he administered to his brother – five more were retaliated back.

Boy was his demon getting tired of it.

* * *

No – no – no – no – no – no! This was not a good time for something like this to happen; especially in her era.

Oh God what was she going to do?

_"Think Kagome, what should you do first? We need to get a barrier up around the shrine that will hold Inuyasha in if he does get out of control. Then we'll need a secondary barrier to protect everyone."_

She turned around to face Kaede, who was playing backup guard for her family in case things got out of hand and rattled off her idea.

"Child we should do these things but I don't have near enough power to encompass the whole shrine."

"Then tell me what to do and I'll perform the enchantment."

"I highly doubt that you could pull off such a feat."

Ignoring Kikyo's comment for the time being, the young miko listened to Kaede as she explained what needed to be done to accomplish the mini feat. When Kaede had finished Kagome's barrier was already in place around the shrine since she had done everything as it was told to her.

Kaede had even agreed to place the secondary barrier for her; now that one she could hold up. Before Kagome could set the next part of her plan into action though she noticed how close the two elderly's of the small group were. Was that holy energy being passed back and forth between them?

Ugh! She didn't have time to think of that right now!

Quickly she obtained Sango and Miroku's help on locating where the Tessaiga had fallen during the beginning of the fight, and it was just her luck as to where it was at.

Near the third storage shed…

On the opposite side of the grounds…

On the other side of the brothers little escapade.

Taking a deep breath, making sure she had the nerve to do the crazy stunt she was about to pull, Kagome began to dash across the stone and through the middle of the clashing inu's to get to the famed sword; all the while her family and friends yelling at her to come back and to not be so stupid.

But she had to do this; already the demonic stripes upon his cheeks were darkening in color. Only one thought ran through her mind as she kept on running.

Izayoi didn't deserve to see her son like that; as a cold and heartless killer.

Suddenly Kagome found herself gliding through the air for a measly few seconds before feeling her feet touch the ground and a clawed hand grasp her shoulder roughly.

"Just what were you thinking trying to rush in between them like that young one? What is so important that you would risk your life to run in the midst of an Inuyoukai fight?"

"Please Lord Touga you must understand, if I don't get Tessaiga back and return it to Inuyasha immediately something dire will happen and it will be hard to stop him!" Kagome's eyes were filled with desperation as her gaze kept going between the Tessaiga and the youkai holding her back. He truly had no idea of what was going to happen if he didn't let her go.

"Why? What is going to happen to Inuyasha if…?"

Touga never got the chance to finish – he was cut off as his wife's terror filled screams flooded the air…

Along with the scent of Inuyasha's demonic blood.

* * *

Miles away, in the middle of the farming country of Japan, a lone white dog sat watching his master train his horses. His life was a peaceful one, filled with long days of running through the fields and chasing local wildlife. Yes, this was definitely going to be another one of those good days.

Or so he thought.

Mind you, he didn't have much if any hearing, but over what little he did have a series urgent howls reached into his doggie brain; feeding him many warnings and messages about something happening at his old home and it frightened him.

Quickly he got to his paws and started rushing to his master; he would know what to do.

His Tinkerbell's pack was in danger – and they needed help now. 

* * *

**A/N – Total word count – 1,462**

**Golly gee – I love you guys so much I decided to update SUPER early**

**and give you two more cliffies! XD**

BTW - there is a reason I wrote "His Tinkerbell" so that's not a typo.

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS – FLAMES WELCOMED!**


	33. The Dark of Night

**Curiosity – Chapter 33 – "The Dark of Night"**

* * *

Never in all her years did she think that she would be standing in the middle of her husband's family shrine watching two demons tear each other apart.

Believe it or not, that was exactly what she was doing now.

It absolutely amazed her how well Inuyasha was fighting the other demon, whom she had assumed to be Sesshomaru. The hanyou she thought of as a son fought like he had been trained professionally; though she knew from his background that he hadn't. That didn't by any means change the fact that he was distracted during the altercation with his brother.

She could tell from the many glances Inuyasha was stealing at the people around him that he was truly worried about the friends surrounding him getting hurt. In many ways, his mannerisms mimic Kagome.

He was often as much of a selfless person as Kagome was.

A fearful scream brought Arisu out of her musings and caused her to pay better attention to the battle before her; and what she saw made her heart sink.

She'd heard of Sesshomaru doing this once before, but when Kagome had told her about it she'd thought her daughter had blown the past altercation way out of proportion. Oh how wrong she was.

There before her stood the two brothers; one - completely still, head bowed, and an unnatural wind blowing his hair around; the other had his only hand sticking directly through the youngers gut, blood mixed with poison dripping to the ground. No one made a sound as they stared on in disbelief; that is, except the Lady Izayoi, who was trying effortlessly to escape the grasp of her husband in attempts to help her only son.

Arisu herself wanted to run over to the boy and pry his brother off of him but she knew it would do no good.

A thought popped into her head then. From the tales Kagome had told her about the two, she knew at the end that wounds would need to be bound and taken care of.

The least she could do was have everything prepared for them.

Before she could even ask Kaede to take down the barrier though a thunderous and murder filled growl tore throughout the air.

And it came from none other than Inuyasha.

* * *

_**"How dare he…**_

_**How dare the alpha of the silver inu pack try to kill me!**_

_**Does he truly think this hanyou so weak in body? Ha! With me being part of him, we will be unstoppable.**_

_**The idiot thinks I'm just a dumb, uncontrollable, bloodlust craved halfwit that doesn't know what the hell is going on around me? Well, I'll show him… yes…**_

_**And I'll start with taking revenge for my mate."**_

It was then that the animal overtook the man and lashed out – ready to take on this fool for his position in the pack.

A howl ripped through his throat as he launched his first attack upon the startled ice lord.

Boy was this going to be fun.

* * *

This was bad, this was very bad. Not only was Sesshomaru in her era but now Inuyasha was going full demon in front of her family. This wasn't good at all. She would be thoroughly surprised if her mother still allowed her to travel in the Feudal Era after all of this.

He had to be stopped; stopped before he did something rash that he would regret once he gained back his mind. If only Touga would let go of her arm so she could make it over to Tessaiga it would be even better.

"See? This is what I meant when I said I had to get to his sword! If I don't get it back to him soon it will become harder for him to transform back to normal." Kagome hit him upon the arm in an effort to be let go.

Touga's attentions were turned from his hysteric mate to the miko held in his other arm.

"What happened to him? What has caused him to become this beast in the first place?"

Kagome noticed his grip was loosening upon her. "The Tessaiga is the only thing that keeps his demon blood suppressed but now isn't the time for details!"

With one more hard tug, Kagome was finally released from Touga's hold and she began to make her way to the legendary sword that belonged to her best friend. She could hear her friends once again yelling after her to come back, to not take such a risk and to let the brothers fight; but she knew better than that.

This was the only way to stop them and it was imperative that they do so; Inuyasha needed urgent medical attention for his wound.

* * *

It was so difficult to avoid the two brothers; you never knew where they were going to jump to or be thrown into next. Kagome did notice though how neither seemed to notice her; both were so zeroed in on each other that they didn't feel the need to watch her, but boy did she have to watch them.

Finally, after many minutes of quick dodges and lots of tumbles, Kagome finally made it to the sword in one piece. So out of breath as she was, she thought it would be alright to take a quick break before the trek began to reunite sword with master.

How wrong she was…

* * *

Who was that girl running across the grounds? Surely him lame-brained half-brother didn't go after another mortal woman; but knowing on him that was probably the case. It was those women, especially miko; he kept around him that made him so weak; even now he was distracted. The humans surrounding him were what was going to one day be his demise -

_"And this Sesshomaru would be there to throw it right back in his face."_

First of all though he needed to get this mongrel to truly lose his head; Sesshomaru could tell that there was still some of Inuyasha's true conscious self in control of his demon controlled body. He would remedy that little situation soon enough – and he had the perfect way to do it.

He now knew who the girl was with the odd colored hair that had just moments ago dotted across the shrine grounds thanks to a miniscule wisp of wind.

Upping his game, Sesshomaru's quick burst of speed (along with a bit of extra help from his handy dandy Dragon Strike) allowed him to send Inuyasha flying through the air and into one of the storage buildings, allowing him to sneak up on the unsuspecting miko whom he'd scented on the winds.

* * *

She felt the wind move the clothing upon her back and knew something was up. Wind didn't just randomly appear out of thin air only to stop a few seconds later. The miko powers within her could sense something behind her – but there wasn't any way she was going to turn around and see what it was. After all, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were still fighting right?

A breath was exhaled right next to her ear as an extremely familiar clawed hand wrapped around her throat.

"Hn, a defenseless human wench has no place on a demon battle ground."

_**"And you should learn not to turn your back on your opponent asshole!"**_

Kagome was released from Sesshomaru's claws only to be held to Inuyasha's chest after he'd flung his brother hard into the stone pathway. She knew this would be the perfect time to give him the Tessaiga, but he had other plans.

_**"Are you alright mate; that bastard didn't hurt you did he?"**_

Mate? Where was that coming from? But that little detail wasn't the important now, it was getting him to accept his sword that was more pressing.

"Please Inuyasha you must take it!"

He cupped her cheek gently in his deadly clawed hands. _**"No mate, I will fight with honor by killing this whelp with my claws not by sword. You will keep it for your own protection."**_

Reasoning with him did no good as he covered her with his fire-rat and set back off towards his brother to detour another attack against her. She could tell he was getting weaker though; blood was still dripping through the hole in his gut and he seemed a bit paler. It was only a matter of time -

A time that came far too quick for her liking.

A scream tore through her throat as she witnessed Sesshomaru drive his hand through Inuyasha's ribcage, directly above the first hole making it twice as large. She watched as he removed his fist and Inuyasha fell to the ground.

He needed medical attention and he needed it NOW.

Without even thinking Kagome ran and threw herself atop Inuyasha and flung Tessaiga into his hands just as Sesshomaru was about to deliver the final blow; there was no way in hell she was going to let that happen.  
"If you want to kill him you'll have to get through me first." She sent him a glare that dared him to defy her.

"Us as well."

Suddenly Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara stood between the fallen hanyou and his half-brother. There was no way they would allow the fight to continue in Inuyasha's current condition and apparently their father felt the same way.

"Sesshomaru, you will stand down at once!" Now Touga stood between the mismatched group and his eldest son.

"Hn you know as well as I that you have no power over me Father. I am alpha of the inu clan therefore I am higher up in the pack than you are."

"You're wasting your breathe old man."

All turned to see Inuyasha, in his hanyou form, start to rise from the ground while he leaned heavily on Kagome until he got his footing.

"Ya might as well move so I can finish the bastard, he ain't ever gonna listen to you anyway."

"You will do well to keep your filthy mutt, half-breed mouth shut while you are in Father's presence."

Touga turned on his eldest son. "Do not disrespect your brother like that. I'll have you well know that you aren't too big to still receive a spanking from me. And furthermore…"

"Inuyasha!"

All turned to Kagome's frantic call as they witnessed Inuyasha start to fall back to the ground – all the while coughing up some sort of red substance. Upon closer inspection it was found to be blood – and lots of it.

Scrapes, scratches, and gashes all began to open up on every part of Inuyasha's body. While everyone was gathered around him trying to stop the bleeding it was only Kagome who noticed the change happening upon the hanyou's head that was leaning against her chest.

Ever so slowly, the silver strands that made up his hair began to darken and ears started to shrink. There was something at the edge of her mind bugging her to look up into the waning light of the sky.

It was then that she realized with terrible dread -

That it was the night of the new moon. 

* * *

**A/N – Total words – 1,870**

Bring on the flames… I know you guys hate me right now.

A refresher - "Arisu" is Kagome's mother's name and the type_** that is like this** _is Inuyasha's demon talking.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!


	34. Fight For Your Life

**Curiosity – Chapter 34 – "Fight For Your Life"  
**

* * *

Dear Lord it was everywhere – staining clothes, skin, and most of the ground in a sea of blood.

She kept calling his name; making sure that he stayed conscious while he lay upon her chest. There was no way in hell she was going to let him die; no sir, not on here watch; especially in front of his mother.

Kagome stayed as calm as she could given the nature of the situation. She wasn't totally uncaring mind you, but the one thing that was at the top of her list was getting the hole in Inuyasha's chest wrapped up. They needed to get him into the house and she wasn't going to take the chance of losing any of his organs on the short trek.

"Quick! I need something to bind his wound for a few minutes until we get him into the house."

Immediately Touga shed his haori and wrapped it tightly around his youngest chest while the young miko held him up just enough for the silk to be put into place without too much difficulty.

Without any provoking, Touga lifted the still transforming hanyou and made way for the house; Kagome by his side the entire way while their friends followed urgently, leaving Sesshomaru standing out in the courtyard. Mama had already run ahead to get all of the medical supplies prepared – but Kagome knew whatever she had wouldn't be enough.

Kagome felt Inuyasha's hand find her own and squeeze it tightly. He was now entirely human and just by looking at him she could tell that he was using all the self-discipline he could muster to not cry out in pain.

Even in a situation like this Inuyasha didn't want to appear weak in front of his father.

She felt him squeeze her hand tighter as Touga finally made his way into the house.

"Ka…can't breathe…" He was breathing harder now; something had to be done and fast.

"Touga take Inuyasha up to my room and Souta, go to Gramps room and get his oxygen concentrator!"

Within mere moments Inuyasha was laying upon Kagome's bed and being tended to as fast as possible by the elder and younger miko; each one working on either side of him since they'd had Touga move the bed away from the way. Each minute that went by someone from their rag-tag group was bringing in one thing or another for the miko. They hoped to God that he would make it through the night.

What would they ever do without him?

* * *

The now fully human Inuyasha still hadn't cried out, though anyone could tell by the look on his face that he was in a major amount of pain. He could sense all of their friends (minus Sesshomaru) filtering in and out with every little bit of medical supplies that were needed. He must have been beat up pretty bad for everyone to be panicking over him like this.

_"Damn, why does it hurt so much to breathe?"_

* * *

Kaede noticed how Inuyasha was taking in many short, gasping breathes and knew something dire was wrong, but what it was she didn't know.

"Kikyo, I need ye to mix up a potion for Inuyasha to ease his pain. Make up the strongest one that ye know of."

Not a movement came from the reborn woman as she continued to star at the injured man lying in a pool of his own blood.

"Did ye not…"

"I didn't know." Kikyo interrupted, her face showing confusion.

The younger (though now older) stared at her only family and waited for an answer, though she was still unconsciously binding Inuyasha's wounds.

Kikyo spoke in barely a whisper; it was amazing that anyone heard her response at all.

"I didn't know he could become human."

It was clear that Kikyo wasn't going to be of any help if she was just going to stand there like an idiot, so Kagome did the only logical thing.

"Gramps get Kikyo out of here if she isn't going to help. Sango you go make the potion."

"But where would I find the herbs to make it in this era?" Sango felt a hand grip her shoulder and she looked up into the eyes of Kagome's mother.

"Kagome keeps and extra supply in the cupboard by the stove and I can help you boil everything to make it. How diluted do you want it Lady Kaede?" Mama sure knew how to sound professional when she wanted to be.

"Give it to him straight, perhaps that will ease his wheezing."

* * *

The young miko was already drenched up to her elbows in blood. She was trying hard to piece everything back together but it was hard, especially with lingering demon poison eating your skin at every turn.

She heard the hanyou turned human beneath her gasp loudly when she brushed across a particular organ and from the way his face scrunched up she knew it wasn't a good thing.

Miroku held up a flashlight while she tried to find said organ again and let me tell you, what she found wasn't good.

"Oh no, Shippo go get in my bag and get me the surgical thread now!" Within a blink of her eye, the medical book he was holding up for her dropped to the ground and the kitsune was gone.

The urgency he had heard in his adoptive mother's voice sent him flying down the stairs faster than he had ever gone before.

* * *

"Wench…it hurts…breathe."

" I know Inuyasha. Sango is getting you some pain medicine now and Shippo's getting me the thread so I can sew you up."

She thread her fingers through his coal black hair and cradled his head in an attempt to calm him.

"There's a rip in you lung that needs to be sewn up – that's why your breathing is so rough. Inuyasha?"

Something was wrong; he had a look on his face she'd never seen before.

"Inuyasha did you understand me?"

A goofy smile appeared on his face as he gazed at her with dilated eyes.

"Ding dong the witch is dead. Which old witch, the wicked witch – ding dong the wicked witch is dead."

He continued on with the song as Kagome yelled at Souta to hurry his butt up and get the oxygen machine in her room now.

"It's not my fault that it's so heavy!" Souta huffed when he finally brought the thing into Kagome's room. Quickly, she pulled away from Inuyasha and started hooking the concentrator up as fast as she could.

"What is wrong with him?" Izayoi was upon him now, worried about the things her son was saying.

"What's this? Are we going to play a game mother?"

He'd started messing with the clear tubing Kagome had placed around his ears and in his nose; thinking that they were playing together in his semi-deranged mind.

"We've got to make sure he keeps his nasal tubing in. He's acting this way due to the lack of oxygen to his brain caused by the split in his lung." She paused to remove his hands again. "The device by the bed is pumping a purer level of air into his system. Hopefully that will make up for the loss before there is any permanent damage done."

A choked cry left from the concerned mother's throat. Though she didn't understand quite what Kagome was talking about, she got the gist of it. Never in a million years would she want her child permanently damaged; it struck her hear with a knife just with the thought of it. Thank God she had her mate; he sensed her need for comfort and gathered her into his arms and led her from the room. He knew his mate was in no condition to see her son this way; none of them were.

One thing was for sure though; Touga was both surprised and proud at how his youngest son's chosen mate was handling all of this. He was confident that Kagome would make a fine wife for Inuyasha -

_"Now if he'd only get his head out of his ass and realize that for himself."_

His attention was turned away from his mate to the sounds of coughing, fearful yells, and pleadings coming from Kagome's room.

Filtering through all the crying and hastily barked orders, he searched for the one noise that he desperately wanted to hear. Sorrow filled his being as he gripped his beloved Izayoi even closer to his person, trying so hard not to march right outside to his eldest son and strangle him to death.

If what he heard, or in this case didn't hear, were true then surely Izayoi would be heartbroken forever and it would be his entire fault...

After all, he had let the two brothers fight.

Once more he attempted to find the harmonious sound that every living being in the world processed – again he came up empty handed and it saddened him. It took everything he had not to lose himself over what had happened, he needed to be strong for Izayoi. A silent tear rolled down his cheek as he sent a silent prayer to save his son.

Why did it have to happen this way? They had just been reunited and now their happy time was ruined.

Inuyasha's heart had stopped beating.

* * *

**A/N – Total words – 1,569**

**Hope you liked this one. Wrote it during a slow time while working at the polls. I should just let you guys set for a couple weeks in dispense, but idk.**

The Oxygen concentrator mentioned in the story is an actual medical device. It's like an oxygen tank except that it isn't a round tank of compressed air. It's a box shaped device that takes the air in a room and actually makes it into purer oxygen. Gramps has one because he has asthma and needs it to help him breathe sometimes.

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS – FLAMES WELCOMED  
**


	35. Leaving On A Jet Plane

**Curiosity – Chapter 35 – "Leaving on a Jet Plane"**

PLEASE READ A/N TO UNDERSTAND THE POINT OF THIS CHAPTER!

_***Meanwhile – far away in Japan's countryside***_

Couldn't this stupid motorbike go any faster? He needed to get to Tokyo NOW not in four hours! Why couldn't the transporter beams in Star Trek be real? It would sure get them all back to his family shrine a hell of a lot faster than a cycle that only goes forty miles an hour.

He had no idea what was wrong but if there was one thing he did know it was to trust his four legged companion's instincts. There had been so many times throughout the years that the furry beast had affected many aspects of his life in one way or another. The dog had done everything from chasing off wild animals on his lands to going off to fetch a neighbor when he'd needed help around his farm. But this time; this time the way his furry friend acted frightened him to no end.

It was odd how at times he would know exactly what the dog was trying to tell him; as if he was actually speaking the same language but that wasn't possible right? Was he making it up? Was it all in his head?

From what bits and pieces the young man could make out, if he actually understood his dog at all, something dire was happening at his family shrine and he needed to get there immediately. Tinkerbell told said that there was some sort of fight going on that involved swords and she was scared for her pack. He knew that he and Kagome's dog Tinkerbell had had a connection since she'd been born and that even though Mytonic was eighty percent deaf he could still somehow hear her, but was the alert unfounded? Could what Mytonic be "telling" him actually be true?

After only a few minutes of thought, Kei decided it wasn't worth not investigating. Kei immediately rode up to his house and tried to call his mother via video chat to no avail. He'd even taken a long shot by calling them on the phone knowing that at least Gramps would answer but that didn't work either.

It was then that he started to worry.

Without any further notice the animals in pasture were locked up and fed enough food to last them for a couple days and arrangements had been made to have a neighbor come and water them every day. As fast as humanly possible a bag had been packed, the house locked up, and the motorcycle with sidecar was pulled out of the garage and started up. With the bag in the sidecar and Mytonic seated atop the cycle, Kei jogged back into the barn to retrieve one more companion before heading towards Tokyo.

He just hoped no one caught him with the baby pot-bellied pig, after all they weren't legal to have in Tokyo, but there was no way he was going to leave the little guy alone for who knows how long.

And that's how they got to where the group of three was now; obviously with Kei driving, Mytonic setting behind him, and little Arnold in the sidecar almost four hours outside of Tokyo.

_"How much longer until we reach our pack?"_Kei heard the large dog bark; God it freaked him out sometimes how the normal dog barks turned into sentences in his mind. There must be something wrong with him – it amazed him how human-like Mytonic could sound whenever he understood what he was saying.

With no way to answer him with his voice, Kei removed one of his hands and signed to his companion how much longer it would be, to which Mytonic repeated the urgency in which they needed to get there…

And he just hoped to God that he got there in time.

_"Don't worry sis, I'm coming."_

_***Somewhere in the mysterious beyond***_

Yatsuo was quite happy at this point. His son and his true mate had been brought back together and had now been reunited with their son even if the current situation didn't make it a very happy event. It pleased him to see his final prophecy fulfilled.

"It has not been fulfilled yet."

The youkai turned with a questioning look to the woman behind him.

"What do you mean it hasn't been fulfilled? Has my son not proven how much he loves the woman?"

She shook her head. "No, bringing her back from the grave was not the test; another will soon come to past, the true test, and if your son and his mate are not careful they could be torn apart forever and the world will surely perish."

"Can't we warn them somehow? What is going to happen?"

The woman waved her hand and a bubble appeared beside them, showing them things.

"The details have not been revealed to me, but it involves him."

Both watched as a boy made his way down a road with a large white dog and a little pink pig.

* * *

**A/N – Total words – 837**

**lol I bet you guys hate be right now! Below is a list of names so as not to confuse anyone.**

**Point of this chap - Well, if any of you remember, a couple chapters back Tinkerbell (the dog with two pups) sent distressing howls into the air just after Inuyasha and Sesshomaru began to fight. Then in the next chapter a different male dog (at that point un-named) somehow, through the wonderful world of magic, heard Tinkerbell's calls waaaaaaay out in the Japan countryside where the dog (Mytonic) lived with his owner (Kei). Being the great dog that he is and sensing danger, Mytonic alerts his master to the potential danger and they make their way back to their former home. (The shrine) Which brings us to the gist of this chapter...**

**So there are a couple things I have mentioned that are part of the MAJOR plotline to the story. Specifically where Mytonic "talks" to Kei (I'll let you all figure out what I'm planning there) and the last bit surrounding Yatsuo (Touga's father) and the final prophecy he'd made on his death bed apparently not being fulfilled like he thought.**

**The three main reasons I posted this chap are:**  
**A) - To annoy you all about not finding out what's going to happen to our fave hanyou *evil laughter***  
**B) - Introduce Kei and Mytonic into the story (Notice where he thought "sis, I'm coming") *SPOILER ALERT***  
**C) - To give you yet another cliffy regarding Yatsuo's prophecy.**

**A COUPLE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW - You might have caught where I mentioned Kei "signs" to Mytonic. Kei is mute, has been since childhood, but sometimes he does (or will I should say) use an electronic larnyx. Also - Mytonic is hard of hearing... though through the magic of fanfiction and fairies he can hear Tinkerbell. And Arnold the pig is there because, well, who wouldn't want a cute pot-bellied pig as a pet?**

**Kei – young man**  
**Mytonic – Kei's dog (FUNFACT - Mytonic is a breed of goat)**  
**Arnold – Kei's baby pig**  
**Yatsuo – Touga's father**

PLEASE NOTE ~ I've got a craft show coming up on Dec. 17 (which I'm participating in) and updates will be a bit slow! If you want to see some of my aprons check out Aprons-Ahoy on Deviantart!


	36. Too Close For Comfort

**Curiosity – Chapter 36 – "Too Close For Comfort"**

* * *

"No, no, no, no, no, no, Inuyasha you've got to wake up!"

Kaede sat back for a moment in shock before placing a hand on the panicking teenager's shoulder.

"Child, leave him be. He's gone to a better place. Come we must get your arm taken care of, ye re-injured it again during all of this madness." Before she could get out another word her hand was thrown off Kagome's shoulder as the young girl began to do something odd. (At least to her anyway)

"Kagome this is no time to be kissing Inuyasha." She watched as Kagome began to push hard into Inuyasha chest.

"Sis isn't kissing him, she's doing CPR. She's trying to restart his heart – we've got to help her!"

Souta quickly convinced Kaede to continue wrapping the hanyou's wounds while he helped his sister in any way he could. It scared him to see Inuyasha this way; he was supposed to be invincible like Superman not lying dead on his sister's bed. But one thing was for sure, if anyone could bring him back it was Kagome and he had every confidence in the world that she would.

"Inuyasha listen to me you can't die yet! You've got to help finish the jewel and ya gotta get to know your father. He and your mother are waiting down stairs for you and it wouldn't be right for you to die on them!" She paused to breathe into his lungs again before continuing the chest compressions.

"Come on you've got to breathe for me! I know you won't let your brother get away with this; you've got to wake up so you can kick his ass later with Tessaiga!"

The tension in the room was thick as the two women continued to work. It had already been five minutes and Inuyasha still hadn't woken up.

"Ye must face it Kagome, Inuyasha is gone and…"

"No, we've still got one more chance. Souta – run down to the kitchen and get Dad's old medical bag and hurry!"

The boy bolted out of the room and down to the first level of the home at almost a demon's speed, completely ignoring the questions being thrown at him as he grabbed the small black bag and made his way back to his sister's room. Souta thrust the bag directly into his sister's arms the moment he reentered her room; whatever Kagome had planned, he hoped it work. He couldn't stand the thought of no longer having the inu-hanyou in his life and just like his hero would have done in this kind of situation, Souta made a silent vow.

_"Inu-nii-chan, if you don't make it through this I promise to avenge you. I know I'm just a kid, but I'll get your brother back for doing this to you, some way, somehow. I swear it."_

Meanwhile, during his silent oath, Kagome had hastily dug into the old medical bag and grabbed a syringe and a bottle of adrenaline. Silently thanking her father for always having such a thing on hand, she quickly gathered the correct amount into the small plastic tube (thanks to her late night medical readings), uncovered the skin directly above the unmoving hanyou's heart, and thrust the needle into his aorta. After squeezing every last bit of the liquid into his system, the young miko promptly went back to performing CPR, but the thing was, she didn't feel like she was pushing hard enough when it came to pumping his heart; so she decided to take another long shot and try something she'd seen in an old Star Trek moving.

Paying no heed to how compromising and indecent she would be looking to Kaede, Kagome promptly swung her leg over Inuyasha and straddled his waist. Ignoring the questions from the elder miko on what exactly she was doing, Kagome began literally pounding her fist over and over again into Inuyasha's heart. God, this had to work. There was no way any of them could lose him after they'd been through so much…

And dear lord his mother would be devastated after only just getting him back.

"Kagome ye must stop! You're only damaging your arm even further!"

But she didn't stop; she couldn't. Damn-it he had to wake up!

"Inuyasha listen to me! You can't leave; you promised to protect me remember? And if you're not there whose going to stop Naraku from kidnapping me or Kouga from taking me away and making me his woman huh? You'd really like to see me end up with him wouldn't you?"

The older woman was about to physically pull Kagome away from their dead companion when a sudden noise stopped her. In awe she watched as Inuyasha's chest began to move and the man himself begin to cough, inhaling huge gulps of air at a time before pinning the woman above him with one of his famous glares, albeit wasn't as meaningful looking as it normally would have been.

"Like hell – cough – I would let that happen – cough – wench."

Immediately the two women began to make Inuyasha as comfortable as possible and getting his oxygen tubing hooked back in place, but in all their rushing, it was Souta who noticed the odd gleam in his eye…

"Inuyasha, are you alright?"

That brought the two's attention back – they could see the far off look in Inuyasha's eyes and it made Kagome fear the worst.

"Inuyasha?" She shook his shoulder when he didn't focus. "Inuyasha can you hear me?"

"Mother, where are you?" He uttered barely before the light in his eyes went out again. Kagome began panicking, instantly once again beginning CPR again while telling Kaede to go down and get Izayoi. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to let her see him like this, but if it kept him focused and alive until morning – she was willing to risk anything.

* * *

When Izayoi was called, she was hard pressed not to bring Touga with her but the logic of the elder miko made sense. If Touga came up as well it might stress their son out and cause even more problems due to the confusion. So with a heavy heart, Touga stayed with the rest of the worried friends while Izayoi headed up to Kagome's room.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Izayoi made her way into the room and asked what she could do, if anything. The young woman instructed her to sit by his head and talk to him; try to coax him back since in his hazed mind he'd apparently been looking for her.

More and more seconds passed and they still hadn't gotten a response. No matter how much Kagome did with her modern teachings, or Izayoi just sitting there talking to him… they were starting to lose hope and Kagome was about to stop when she heard her brother mutter something that just might save their friend.

"Souta, I think you've struck onto something. Help me get his haori off and hurry, we don't have much time."

Only moments took up this task and just before Kagome attempted their last and only option, she sent a small prayer up to whatever God's would listen, hoping this one last excursion would work.

With both palms flat on Inuyasha's chest, Kagome began to gather her miko energy into her hands before letting it jolt out into the hanyou's body – just like a CPAC in an emergency room. His body reacted the exact same way – jumping off the bed and such – while she steadily increased the power of every jolt.

If only she knew the repercussions of this act later, but she didn't care right now! All that mattered was keeping the hanyou below her alive and it brought her to tears when she heard him gulp in a breath and then another.

It was the sweetest sound she'd ever heard.

The first person that had, of course been in his view was his mother and still being in a semi-dazed state, he reacted, sort of, as a child would.

"I found you, Mother."

A watery smile graced Izayoi's face as she cradled her son's cheek -

"Yes Inuyasha, you have, and I will never leave you again."

* * *

It had been about four hours now since those horrible events took place and everyone within Kagome's bedroom was thankful for every moment the boy that lay upon her bed kept breathing.

Once they'd made sure that Inuyasha was in the "free and clear" Kaede had gone downstairs to tell everyone the good news. Now all they had to do was make sure he made it through the night. For the first couple hours, the two women had kept him awake by talking to him; wanting to make sure he'd had enough oxygen in him before letting him rest any. His mother only lasted about twenty minutes after he'd gone into a restless sleep, she falling asleep in the chair with her hand firmly grasped in her son's – in no way did Izayoi want him to think she'd abandoned him, even in sleep.

So it was Kagome that was left to watch over them both. Not in the least did she mind, having stayed up on this night before, but it was getting harder to stay awake with the amount of blood that she herself had lost due to re-breaking her arm again during the whole fiasco. It wouldn't have been so bad really… had part of her bone not broken through the skin. But the young woman was sure she'd survive until morning.

* * *

Both women were awake when it was just before daybreak; each one nervous as a cat about what could happen when Inuyasha became hanyou again. Would the change put too much strain on his badly damaged body?

It was all they could do to sit there and wait.

Thankfully that wait didn't last long as the sunshine filled the window and ebony hair began to bleed silver and round human ears became pointed and started moving to the top of his head. Relief filled them both as coherent golden eyes opened and a fang filled mouth opened to speak only to stop and clench – supposedly due to the pain. The pain was soon forgotten however as soon as he spotted his mother hovering just to the right of him.

Sensing that the two needed to be alone, the teenager stood and excused herself – stating that she was going to make Inuyasha some pain medicine.

Inuyasha completely ignored her however – didn't even notice when she'd left really – for he was too engrossed with the woman beside him. Slowly, ignoring any pain that was attributed with moving his arm, the hanyou raised his arm to touch the face of the woman he'd lost so long ago.

"It truly is you Mother?" He voiced skeptically. Surely the woman above him was only a mirage.

A beaming smile appeared across Izayoi's face as she raised her own hand to cup his clawed one, emotions taking over as she gazed down at her son's questioning face.

"Yes it is Inu. You have no idea how happy I am to be back here with you and I promise I will never abandon you like that again, not for a very long time."

He removed his hand. "So he protected you then?"

It was her turn to look questioningly at him. "What do you mean?"

Once again he moved his hand, only this time; he easily reached into the inside of her kimono and into the secret pocket sewn into the lining. Izayoi watched his movements to see what it was he would reveal and what she saw in his grasp surprised her.

"You always said that he would protect me when you weren't around, so it was only fair that he take care of you since I couldn't follow you into the afterlife."

She just couldn't hold her tears in anymore; she just found it so thoughtful for him to do that that she just couldn't hold her emotions in any longer.

As gently as possible, Izayoi lowered herself to softly embrace her son and his beloved childhood stuffed dog.

* * *

**A/N – Total words – 2,038**

**So sorry for the late update. Took my Great Aunt to go meet our cousin for the first time, then of course Thanksgiving, and then my body decided to go and get sick with the flu. How fun.**

**Hope you like this chapter – will make sure to update on the right day next week.**

**Please check out my new fanfic "Tactics" – it's a Sesshomaru/Mama Higurashi cross. Oh yeah – I'm going where no fanfic author has gone before! *cue Star Trek theme***

PLEASE NOTE ~ I've got a craft show coming up on Dec. 17 (which I'm participating in) and updates will be a bit slow! If you want to see some of my aprons check out Aprons-Ahoy on Deviantart!

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**


	37. Helter Skelter

**Curiosity – Chapter 37 – "Helter Skelter"**

* * *

The tension in the living room of the Higurashi household had definitely thinned out since all had heard the good news about Inuyasha making it through the night. Those within the room finally allowed themselves the sleep they so deserved after the horrible night, but, to the insistence of Aritsu all were to have breakfast first.

Sango and Shippo were helping her out with the cooking while Miroku set the table and Gramps led Kaede up to his bedroom to catch some shuteye; people their age just couldn't stand to stay up for so long you know. All three within the kitchen noticed how thoughtful and quiet Kagome's mother was compared to the bubbly personality they'd become accustomed with over the past two days.

"May I ask you both a question?"

Both turned to the elder woman who broke the never ending silence and waited for her to speak.

"Has… Kagome ever been injured as badly as Inuyasha is now?"

"I can assure you she has not Higurashi-san. Inuyasha would never let anything so harmful happen to her; keeping in mind the occasional scratch and bruise of course. Rest assured no such danger could ever happen to your daughter while Inuyasha is around." All looked to the monk that stood in the doorway who doused the worried mother's fears with his golden tongue. Sure he was a lecher most of the time but he had his moments and this was definitely one of them.

A breath of relief exited the woman before she continued to chop her vegetables.

"Well that is a relief to hear. I know how dangerous her traveling is and I do worry about her but knowing you all are there with her makes it a bit easier." The familiar smile returned to her face as she continued her work.

"Now, who would like to help me make the pancakes?"

* * *

It was midafternoon now and everyone was trying their best to keep themselves busy; Sango and Kirara were taking a walk around the shrine grounds, Miroku was helping Gramps with his daily duties, Izayoi and Touga were in Kagome's room with Inuyasha, Souta was – well no one knew exactly what he was doing, and Mama, well she was just trying to keep her sanity. After all, wouldn't you be a little nervous too if the demon who had practically killed your daughter's best friend the night before was sitting right in the next room? That's right; the fearsome Lord Sesshomaru was seated in the Higurashi living, at his father's orders and it made her absolutely edgy. Once in a while she would take a glance at him and find him in the same position against the wall, looking as stiff as a board; more statuesque-like than a real person. A few times Arisu had considered offering him food or drink but from the way Kagome described him and after what he'd done the night before – there was no way she was taking the chance.

Minutes ago, after Kagome had finished washing most of the blood from Inuyasha's person, Kaede had practically dragged her into the bathroom to tend to her now severely broken arm. Arisu had tried to reason with the old woman, saying she could take her daughter to the hospital but amazingly Kagome refused the "futuristic" treatment; her logic was sound though. Why go to a hospital and have to make up a tall tale about how her arm came to be broken when you practically had a trained "doctor" under your roof that'd been practicing medicine for most of her life? It did make a lot of sense -

Now if only the bathroom was sound-proof.

Every moan, groan, and cry of pain could be heard outside of those four walls; that's why everyone was trying to keep themselves busy – none of them liked to hear Kagome in pain. Lord only knows how crazy Inuyasha must be right now, knowing he couldn't stop her daughter's pain and that what Kaede and Kikyo were doing was necessary. She felt even worse for Kagome since she was the one that had to go through all of it without even a sedative. Her little girl had definitely turned into a brave woman indeed.

Her mind finally became occupied then, when Touga came down and asked if he could trouble her for tea which she quickly began to prepare for him.

Little did they know that the next bout of madness was going to begin in mere moments.

* * *

He was almost there; almost to the place that was his home during the younger years of his life. His heart raced ever faster as his little group got closer and closer to the shrine. Kei just hoped to whatever God would listen that his family was alright; especially his sister. The young man wouldn't know what he'd do if that little spitfire was gone from his life forever.

_"You're about to miss the turn."_It still freaked him out when Mytonic "spoke" to him through his mind but the big white dog was right. If Mytonic hadn't have warned him, they'd be heading into downtown Tokyo right about now.

Immediately, the old motorbike turned left down the alley beside the shrine and then took another left up the hidden driveway that let up to the back of the shrine property and the garage, but he didn't stop there – no, Kei completely avoided the garage and headed down the narrow dirt walkway that led up to the rear courtyard. The man needed to see if his family was alright damn-it not worry about parking his motorbike! The courtyard came into view then, as did the step that you took to actually step into the shrine grounds. Using all of his strength, Kei caused his motorcycle to pop a wheelie at the last minute, avoiding the step but then narrowly running into a surprised Sango; but he paid her no mind and kept heading to his destination.

Moments later, the screeching of brakes was heard along with the surprised squeals and barks from Kei's passengers as he quickly jumped off his bike and headed into the back of the house, startling the two people occupying the kitchen area as he began slamming his fist three times into the wall every few seconds – causing Arisu to come barreling towards him, thinking there was an emergency.

"Oh Kei don't scare me like that! Now what's the matter? What's got you so riled up?"

Touga watched as the man before her started waving his hands and arms around like some sort of crazy man. Why didn't he just talk to Arisu? Wouldn't that have made more sense?

"Honey, slow down, I don't understand a word of what you're saying."

Kei let out an exasperated sigh and he began to start over again when a pain induced scream rang throughout the Higurashi household. Immediately Mytonic began heading up the stairs with Kei following him to the source of the horrible scream, leaving Arnold downstairs with a bemused Arisu and a confused Touga.

He just hoped nothing awful had happened to his sister.

* * *

_***A couple minutes earlier – Higurashi bathroom***_

Once Inuyasha had been cleaned up to the best of her ability, without getting to personal, Kaede had practically dragged her into the bathroom where Kikyo was waiting for them. She knew it was about time her arm was fixed up and her bones put back in place, it was really starting to hurt, but could you blame a girl for wanting to make sure her best friend was going to be alright first?

"Alright child, come over here and let's get the dried blood cleaned off of ye."

Kaede motioned to the sink and to the pile of towels setting on the counter. It took both of them many minutes to get all of the blood from her person. Had she truly bled so much in the past night? Was the loss of all this blood why she felt so drained?

She was told to lay down on the tiled floor with her right arm as straight as she could make it. Kikyo and Kaede examined her arm and determined that some of her skin and muscle had to be cut for the bone to be set back in place correctly. A small leather strap appeared out of blue and was placed in her mouth to bite on as a knife was brought out of thin air and was set in place on her arm. It was all Kagome could do not to scream as they made the wound surrounding the protruding bone big enough to reconnect the bone back with its other half. It was a whole other thing not to rip Kikyo's mouth right off her face.

"You act as if you've never had something like this done before."

A death glare was directed at Kikyo, courtesy of a young miko.

"For your information I have had my bones reset before but it was while I was unconscious."

The two continued to banter back and forth and the elder miko took this as a great distraction to restore the bone in Kagome's arm, hopefully without too much trouble. So as her sister and granddaughter continued their mini-fight, Kaede placed a firm hand on either side of the nasty break and quickly snapped the protruding bone back into place. That's when the scream wrenched out of Kagome. The girl started breathing heavily through her clenched teeth, attempting feebly to control the pain that was coursing through her as Kaede cleaned up the blood that had started to flow again. Just as she began to apply the wrappings, all the woman occupying the small room heard frantic footsteps coming up the stairs as well as barking. None of them thought anything about it, thinking it was Souta and Tinkerbell playing; man were they wrong.

Suddenly the door was nearly swung off of its hinges as all three women turned their gazes to the young man standing in the doorway. Before any of them could say a word, he came in, pushed Kikyo out of the way, and hefted Kagome up from her place leaning against the tub and pulled her out into the hallway.

"Kei what is going on? Let me go!"

"You heard her – let the wench go." All eyes became fixed on the hanyou standing just outside Kagome's room, Tessaiga gripped tightly in his hand as Izayoi stood behind him – begging him to go lay back down, but being the stubborn hanyou that he is…

Mytonic had continued to growl threateningly until he took in Inuyasha's scent. There was just something about it, besides the hostility that set him on edge. There was something else as well; something that made the snarling man feel like family, but that wasn't possible – all of his master's original family was dead right? But there was just that one miniscule thing that kept tugging at his canine brain, telling him to back down – and that is what he did.

_"Stand down. There's something odd about this situation."_

Kei shook his head vehemently as he tightened his grip on Kagome. There was no way he was going to let this guy have his sister. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and found a man, who looked suspiciously like the sword wielder, standing just a few feet from him. How in the world had he gotten there? He couldn't have come up the steps because he himself was blocking them, so what was he, Superman or something?

"Keh I'm giving you one last warning pup. Let Kagome go and I won't shove the Tessaiga up your ass."

It was then that Kei decided to pull out a weapon of his own. From his back pocket he revealed a black box but when he flipped the switch on the side, Kagome could see the tell-tale bolts of electricity zapping from the tazer. She decided to stop the big lug then and there; the last thing she needed to deal with today was an electrocuted Inuyasha. Stunning everyone in the hallway, Kagome roughly shoved her left elbow into Kei's lower stomach, which made him release her, and she shoved him to the left and up against the wall – taking no time in revealing the hidden weapon she always had on her and holding it up against his neck.

"I'm only going to say this once Kei and you better listen well; you are going to march your butt downstairs and park it on the couch until Kaede gets done fixing up my arm. And if you EVER pull a tazer out on Inuyasha again, whether he is injured or in perfect health, I WILL NOT hesitate in taking you down. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

A gulp was her only answer as Kei signed to Mytonic to follow him as they made their way to the living room. Kagome let out an exasperated sigh as she placed the small dagger back into it sheath hidden in her bra.

"You've got a knife hidden in your boobs."

She turned to look at Souta with tired eyes, wondering what was in the bag he held before beginning to head back into the bathroom.

"Seriously Souta could you be any more blunt?"

* * *

Half an hour later found Kagome walking down to the living room and revealing to her the funniest sight she'd probably ever seen in her life.

She'd known from the commotion coming from outside the bathroom door that Inuyasha had discovered Sesshomaru was still in her era which in one way or another resulted in him ending up down here, so it was no surprise to see him, but it was what her brother was doing that made her question his sanity, or what little sense he had.

Sitting a chair directly across from Sesshomaru, who was still settled against the wall, was Souta who in his hands held his "weapon". Apparently he'd seen how nervous their mother had been and decided to take things into his own hands.

"Souta, what exactly do you think you're doing?"

"Protecting our family – what's it look like?"

"With a Nerf gun?" She asked incredulously. That's right, her ding dong little brother was "protecting" everyone from Sesshomaru with a children's toy.

It surprised her even more when she heard a growl escape from him. "It was the best thing I could think of! Mom wouldn't let me get dad's gun or even a knife so this was the next best thing. I wasn't going to let him kill anybody so I figured if he tried something I would kill him first."

She rolled her eyes. "Were you having an out of body experience or something yesterday while the whole 'Inuyasha vs. Sesshomaru' battle was going on? Did you miss the whole 'poison claws' thing? For goodness sakes do you honestly think he would try anything with his father around?" Kagome whopped Souta upside his head with her good hand. "And besides that unless he's magically allergic to foam rubber, which I highly doubt, then I wouldn't expect that thing to do anything to him except make him mad."

"Hn, as if a weak human weapon would harm this Sesshomaru."

Kagome gazed at the fearsome Lord for a moment before deciding to show him just how "weak" her brother's "weapon" truly was.

"You've not seen anything yet. Watch this." She muttered just low enough for the only the demon-enriched hearing to hear. She saw the smirk cross Inuyasha's face before returning her attention to her brother; he knew what was coming.

"Hey Souta," Quickly stealing his Nerf gun out of his hands, she aimed it at him and shot. "Are you dead?"

"No." Another shot was fired.

"How about now?"

He began to laugh. "Nope"

She shot one at herself. "Well I'm not dead." One was fired at Inuyasha and another at Touga. "Are either one of you dead?" A shake of their heads was her answer and the people in the room could hear Izayoi start to laugh as she took in the hilarity of the situation. There fun was interrupted though when Kei got up from his place and stood in front of her, obviously very mad and concerned about her wounds and the recent happenings going on. With the current silence in the room, Kagome figured she should be the one to break the ice.

"Heh, heh, I guess I should introduce you to everyone."

"Yes, it would be wonderful to know who almost ran me over with whatever that device is outside."

Sango and Miroku appeared in the doorway now and Kagome gave Kei a look that said they would definitely be talking about this later.

Kei moved to stand beside Kagome, bringing himself to his full height which made him look even more menacing than Sesshomaru. The boy was a good two heads taller than Kagome, who herself barely came up to his chest, which made Kei almost half a head taller than Touga by her calculations. Once Kagome had named off and pointed out everyone to him she turned to the others occupying the room and revealed the answer to the "big mystery".

"Everyone, I would like to introduce to you Mytonic, Arnold…." Pointing to each animal respectively before finally getting to the man standing beside her, "and my freakishly tall brother, Kei Higurashi."

"What!"

* * *

**A/N ~ Total words ~ 2,917**

**I would like to formally apologize to all of my readers for this extremely late update. As most of you know, I was sick, then I had the craft show – well, turned out I caught something else there so I was sick again. Then THAT sickness riled up the laryngitis that I'd apparently had for the past month. (Unknowingly) And then things started going crazy at my house again. Grrrr… sometimes I wish I had my own apartment. So I'm sorry if the note I'd written offended anybody – I honestly wasn't trying to get anyone mad, just trying to make a point. If you'd like me to update faster, or want to ask me to, would you please message/email me instead of leaving a review?**

**Just to clarify this - Kei is mute, NOT deaf and he does know sign language. Mytonic (though it sorta has been revealed) cannot hear, which is why people sign to him. And yes, that is Mytonic speaking to Kei through their "mind connection" - this is a HUGE piece of the puzzle that makes up this story SO DON'T FORGET IT! The reason why will be reviewed to you soon!**

**Would like to thank my new Beta – Sunlancer – for going over this chap. Glad you liked the Nerf gun scene!**

**PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT/REVIEW ~ YOU ARE THE ONES THAT INSPIRE ME TO TYPE FASTER!**


	38. Oddities

**Curiosity – Chapter 38 – "Oddities"**

* * *

Kei was certainly a lot to take in. In a way he could be considered intimidating due to his stature and looks, but he definitely wasn't as fearsome as Sesshomaru. Anyone could tell that he was the kind of person who worked out a lot due to the visibly rippling muscles beneath his shirt, which only made Kei look all the more formidable due to his broad chest and wide shoulders.

All watched as the shaggy black haired boy before him bowed politely, not once uttering a single word, and persistently pulled Kagome into the kitchen.

"What is it Kei – why…?" But Kei stopped Kagome; signing to her not to speak, only to sign; he didn't want the others to know the gist of their conversation.

Inuyasha watched them silently from his place against the wall, letting Arisu's explanation of Kei's lack of speech fade into the background. Apparently the kid was mute, one thing or another being wrong with his vocal cords causing him to be completely silent since childhood, but he didn't care about that. The only thing that interested him right now was the conversation going on between the two siblings in the kitchen.

That's right, he knew exactly what Kagome and Kei were talking about. Did they honestly think that he just sat around all day while Kagome was at school? He needed to do something and what better way to pass the time than rummaging through all those books the wench had lying about her room? These people had no idea what sort of information was stashed away in the confines of his mind.

It was unbelievable what he discovered via the two sibling's conversation. Most of it was anger being thrown back at each other regarding one thing or another but when Kagome finally told Kei what had happened, starting from when she had initially left Inuyasha five days ago, Inuyasha was thoroughly surprised.

_"Kikyo kept her locked up in a hut for two days…" "She accused her of being a witch because she didn't understand a different language…" "It was HER fault Kagome's arm was broken?"_He was softly growling by this point; growing ever louder in volume as the seconds passed and more facts were revealed.

"It is impolite to stare." Blazing gold turned to gaze into ice cold amber.

"You should learn to practice what you preach ya bastard! What the hell do you think you've been doing for the past five minutes?"

A short sigh left the demon Lord. "Obviously you have no concept of manners being the half-breed mutt that you are."

"That is enough; you two are brothers and should act like it." Touga said in an attempt to keep his boys in line – what he didn't expect were two sets of anger filled eyes boring into his skull.

"HALF BROTHERS!" The both of them yelled.

"Ignore them and their anger; they don't like it when they're referred to as full brothers." Miroku spoke as he continued to sip his tea.

"Indeed. Why would I want to be related to someone so vulgar?" The demon Lord agreed with an air about him – one that Inuyasha instantly picked up on.

"Ya wanna finish our little fight asshole?" Inuyasha began to stand up with the help of Tessaiga much to the disagreement of his mother.

"Be careful dear you'll open your wounds again."

"I don't give a flying f***! The bastard just thinks cause I'm a half-breed that I've got the brain of a simpleton – which I don't!"

"You certainly do show it."

Growling erupted from Inuyasha then as he forcefully shoved his mother's hand from his shoulder and unsheathed his sword; preparing to do battle within the Higurashi living room if need be. Unfortunately he didn't even get one swing in…

"Both of you will stop this right now." Touga's voice announced filled with authority. "Inuyasha, you will put that sword away immediately and apologize to Izayoi for your behavior. Sesshomaru you will go back through the well at once and I expect to never find you in this era again without our permission do you understand?"

Sesshomaru instantly stood and left the residence – he'd been surrounding by human stench for far too long anyways.

"Why the hell should I listen to you old man?" When would Inuyasha ever stop butting heads?

Suddenly the hanyou was forced back into his seat by a firm hand he didn't recognize. Looking to the left, he saw the towering figure of Kei – a figure which, if the hanyou were human, would definitely intimidate him.

Inuyasha watched as Kei released his shoulder and pulled another black object out of his pocket, brought the small black device to his throat, and set his eyes on those occupying the room.

"I ask forgiveness for my behavior a few minutes ago; I was concerned for the welfare of my sister. Though Kagome has already introduced me I would like to redo it formally." He took a small bow. "My name is Kei Higurashi and it is a pleasure to make all of your acquaintance. If you will excuse me I will go prepare dinner for you all as pardon for my actions."

He turned to leave but was stopped by the curious kitsune.

"But I thought Kagome's mother said you were mute. How is it you can speak – and why does your voice sound so funny?"

It was Arisu who explained the boy's medical troubles while she sent Kei off to fix dinner.

According to her, Kei had been mute ever since he was found and welcomed into the Higurashi family. When they'd had a specialist look at him it was discovered that his larynx (vocal cords) appeared to be damaged to what they guessed had been since birth. The boy had spent his entire childhood in silence, but when he was older he discovered an object called an "electronic larynx" which he believed might give him the voice he'd so longed to have. Though usually used for people who undergo a "laryngectomy"*, the Higurashi's had taken the chance and ordered the piece of equipment – which to their delight enabled their adopted son to speak.

"You mean your people can actually restore a person's lost voice?" Questioned a surprised Sango.

"In most cases, but in some they can't which is why they learn sign language. That way at least they'll have some sort of communication besides writing everything down." Kagome answered.

There was one thing that Kaede noticed at the beginning of Arisu's explanation that she'd found herself quite curious about.

"Ye said that the child had been mute when ye found him. What exactly did you mean by that?"

A tiny sad smile appeared on Arisu's face – "I don't believe it is my place to tell you his story."

Before anyone could ask otherwise the announcement was made that dinner was ready.

* * *

Dinner was a crazy affair.

An extra table was set up to make sure everyone had enough elbow room while eating their meal. The Feudal Era guests were surprised at the types of delicacies that were setting on the table before them for not only did they look scrumptious but they were also recognizable unlike the food that Arisu had fixed them the day before. The cuisine before them was food from their own era and it was their favorite foods as well. Kagome had apparently told him a lot about them.

It was funny to watch Inuyasha as he ate. He ate even more ravenously than he usually did since the hanyou hadn't eaten in almost two days. His friends and even his father found it comical; unfortunately his mother did not.

"Inuyasha don't eat so fast – you'll choke."

Said hanyou ate the rest of the food on his plate before responding.

"Feh, I'm made of a lot tougher stuff than you humans. I ain't gonna choke."

"Don't speak to your mother like that." Touga's dark tone reached his ears.

Inuyasha took his signature annoyed look and turned his attention to Kagome.

"We're leaving tonight wench."

That definitely made her head pop up, but Kikyo beat her to speaking first.

"No Inuyasha, we will be staying here for eight days as per my copy and mine's agreement – to which I take full responsibility."

_"Wow, she actually kept her half of the deal." _Kagome thought in amazement.

He slammed his fist angrily on the table. "Hell no – we've been gone for five days already! Who knows what kind of crap Naraku's done while we've been off chasing after wench and the old hag!"

"Inuyasha, I think it would be wise to wait at least another day before setting out. After all you've only been up and around for a day and I believe I can already see a bit of blood leaking through your bandages."

"Shut up monk…" The hanyou ground through his teeth. "I don't care if I ain't healed yet; we ain't spending another eight days lollygagging!"

_"He's more of a brute then you described him." _Kei signed to his sister. What happened next really did shock the entire group within the room.

Inuyasha looked Kei right in the eye and raised his hands – _"I can understand you dumbass." _

* * *

The rest of that night was filled with bickering between the two "leaders" of the group along with the occasional outburst from Kei regarding the treatment of his sister. It amazed him that not once did any of members of the odd ball group try to stop their fighting – each one stating that it was just easier out to let them fight it out rather than try to intervene. Izayoi actually had to drag Touga out of the house before he too went off on his youngest son but Izayoi could tell that it was just a lovers spat, though an extremely intense one, so she removed her mate from the situation before his beast took over to discipline his son.

It took a couple hours but the Inuyasha and Kagome finally agreed upon leaving in two days' time since there was a makeup test that Kagome had had the next day. Though this still didn't please the hanyou, the fall was cushioned a little with promise of extra ramen and not having to return to the future for at least a month.

This of course pleased the hanyou greatly, but there was a member of Higurashi family who didn't feel so happy. After all, wouldn't you be upset as well if you were going to be separated from your long missed wife? He supposed he was going to have to move up his little gift for her. So silently, the eldest Higurashi excused himself from the house and made his way to one of the many storage buildings and prepared to set his plan in motion.

* * *

"Hiro what in the world are you doing – it's the middle of the night?"

Yasuhiro once again shushed his wife, trying to keep her quiet so they wouldn't wake the rest household as the two deftly snuck out the back door and to one of the older storage buildings in the back. Once both were inside, Kaede noticed two chairs setting in the room beside some sort of older electronic that was placed on a table and an odd looking screen that seemed to float on the near wall. (Though she knew it didn't float, the room was just too dark to see what was holding it up.)

"What is all this for?" She questioned as he directed her to sit in one of the chairs before he himself sat in the chair closest to the odd device.

"I believe it is easier to you to just watch dear." A switch was flipped and images began to appear on the screen, becoming brighter as the old movie projector heated up. Finally the miscellaneous images disappeared and all that was left was one man adjusting what Kaede supposed was a camera before setting himself in a chair and began to speak.

"Wow… um… I guess I should start with I hope you're seeing this mother." The man on the screen paused for a minute. "God this feels weird, I had a whole speech planned and now it's just slipped my mind. Well anyway, mother, if you haven't guessed already I'm your son Satoru, right now I'm about fifteen years old, and I know it must seem odd that I'm making this video but I've just got this feeling that I'll won't be able to tell you some things if you ever do come back to us from the Feudal Era. Yes mother, I do remember a bit about our home in the forest and the village, but your face haunts my dreams the most."

Satoru went on to tell her what he'd been doing since they'd had to leave her and before long the image changed to that of an older looking Satoru.

"It's me again mother. I am proud to tell you that I've been accepted into college." The movie continued on, her son telling her what he'd planned on doing with his life – planning on becoming a doctor specializing in homeopathic and herbal remedies. It made her proud inside.

The movie kept on progressing and with each new entry in her son's video diary more tears came to old Kaede's eye as she gripped her husband's hand tighter in silent support. She watched as he celebrated his graduation, showed her photos of the woman he was going to ask to be his wife, even part of the wedding had been added to the tape. Satoru hadn't wanted his mother to miss out on anything in his life. There were even small parts where he just wanted to talk about a personal problem even though she wasn't there to give him advice. But the one thing that truly made her heart break was when Satoru appeared on screen with a tiny pink bundle in his arms.

"Hi mother. Today I'd like to introduce someone to you who is truly special to my heart." He slowly uncovered the swaddled child to reveal a chubby little face topped with striking bluish hair and turned her so she was in view of the camera. "This is your granddaughter – her name is Kagome. Can you tell Grandma 'hi'?" Satoru waved Kagome's tiny arm in the air and the dam holding in Kaede's tears just broke. With each passing moment that went by Yasuhiro's grip became tighter and tighter on his wife as she continued to sob into his shoulder. They watched as Kagome grew and Sota was introduced but it was the last entry that made Yasuhiro weep along with his wife.

"I suppose you could say this is for both of you mom and dad." Satoru began with a somber look. "I've been having this feeling for the past few days that something is going to happen, something grave. I fear that which I have always felt – that perhaps I'll never see you two together again. If such a thing does happen know that I will always be watching over you both and that I love you with all of my heart - may you both be blissfully happy together until the end of time."

The image flickered again but neither one of the elders noticed. They just simply held each other and grieved; one for the son whose life she'd missed out on and the other for the caring message left behind.

* * *

Touga found his mind fastened to Kei most of that day. There was just something about the boy that reminded him of someone – his mannerisms, the shape of his face, the way he practiced his judo on the back of the property. It took him a while and a lot of thinking but he'd finally made the connection; the boy looked a bit like Izayoi. Of course she couldn't be his mother but perhaps he was a descendant from her clan? Or was he perhaps a descendant of Inuyasha? He couldn't smell any demon blood beneath the surface but his blood did smell peculiar though; as if there were two different people in one body fighting for dominance. It was the same with his dog who carried the same unusual scent as Tinkerbell – feeling more like a familial tie instead of pack.

Touga would need to ponder over such things later.

* * *

It was finally time to head back to the Feudal Era. Each guest had profusely thanked the Higurashi's for their wonderful hospitality and for everything they'd done. Inuyasha had noticed how the two elder human's kept hovering around each other but kept his mouth shut. The hanyou could sense the reluctance to leave from Kaede and knew something was up. The question was what?

Just as almost everyone had gone through the well, only Kagome and Kaede to go, the lumbering Kei decided to make his appearance at the door with a pack riding on his back and Mytonic at his side.

"What do you think you're doing boy?" Gramps questioned.

_"Going with my sister."_He signed.

"What? No! Kei you don't know how dangerous it is and besides, it's bad enough having to make sure I stay safe we don't need Inuyasha complaining about protecting someone else."

_"You forgot that I am well trained in many forms of martial arts and that summer I took fencing lessons."_

*Sigh* "It takes a lot more than kicks, chops, and stabbing others with a sword shaped like a toothpick to defeat a demon. You've got no idea what it's like."

_"I don't care, I'm coming with you – if not for anything else than to teach that hanyou of yours some respect." _He'd known he'd won this sibling battle of wits.

"Fine, but who's going to take care of Arnold hmm?" Of course Mytonic would go, he was needed to alert others if Kei's condition acted up.*

Without another word Arnold was handed over into Souta's care and the four made their way down the well.

What Kagome didn't know was there was a whole other reason for her older brother to come along, one that hopefully wouldn't be revealed during the upcoming journey.

* * *

Across the lands of Musashi and through the mountains of the north, a luminous castle stood; a castle that housed the most vile villain in history.

The ominous being watched the scene unfolding through the mirror and was pleased with two specific beings that he saw within its depths. Finally the man of prophecy had returned…

Now he would have enough power to rule the entire universe.

* * *

**A/N – Total words – 3,114**

***"laryngectomy" ~ a surgery involving a partial or total removal of the larynx (vocal cord)**  
***"Kei's condition" ~ This will be revealed in a later chapter.**

**Hope this is all to your liking. Tried (and succeeded) in making it extra-long for you. Once again I am sorry for the delays but I am trying. Got a lot of things going on right now, most of which frustrate me which gives me writers block. I'll try to start getting into a timely fashion again.**

**Will someone PLEASE review OTHER THAN BEGGING ME TO UPDATE? I really want to know your thoughts on this.**

**Thanks to Sunlancer for being my awesome beta-buddy!**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS!**


	39. Unfortunate Discoveries

**Curiosity – Chapter 39 – "Unfortunate Discoveries"**

* * *

This was a glorious day indeed. Those fools had no clue of what they'd done by bringing that… boy… back to this era – to his home. The group of slayers had no idea what was about to be unleashed through the seemingly innocent deed; the people that were going to be torn apart – the weakening in their ranks – the betrayal. Oh the upcoming events were certainly going to be woeful ones… and he just couldn't wait to see the outcome.

But he needed to do his part first to get the ball rolling and for that he needed his… not so loyal servants.

"Kanna, the time has come. Summon Kagura so we may be on our way."

With a malicious smile upon his face, one that promised death, Naraku wrapped himself in his horrible miasma and made haste towards the home of a certain elderly miko.

* * *

The rest of the day had passed uneventfully for the group of slayers; that is if you don't include the fit that a certain hanyou had when Kei and Mytonic had appeared at the top of the well. Inuyasha made it completely understood that it wasn't going to be his duty to save Kei's "sorry ass" – as he'd put it. A shock came though when, out of nowhere, Inuyasha was pinned to the ground with his hands behind his back and eyes staring into Kei's hard ones as he signed -

_"I am extremely confident that I can protect myself along with my sister if need be." _Within moments both were on their own two feet and all were walking towards the village. Along the entire route they fought, not even noticing when Kikyo escaped off into the woods to be alone once again.

Little did they know that in a matter of hours their little group would have an even bigger problem than the Shikon Jewel and the fight against Naraku combined.

* * *

Morning came and with that the regular meal of stew. Everyone could feel the tension in the atmosphere of the hut. Something was going to happen today… now if they only knew what that something was.

Most noticed how certain people were acting strangely. Kaede seemed to be off in her own little world, barely touching her food – Touga had been seemingly lost in deep thought – and Kei was, well, he certainly was the most outgoing male they'd ever seen. In their opinion, it took a heck of a lot of guts for a man to wear a partially sparkly pink t-shirt.

Unfortunately, none of these things appeared odd enough to warrant being on their toes but there was just something in the air… it was just off…

Not long after their meal did they find out exactly how bad the day was about to become.

* * *

The original group, along with Kei and Mytonic, were ready to head out as Touga and Izayoi thanked Kaede for the wonderful hospitality and for not turning away Inuyasha at the beginning of his journey. Promising Kaede that they would come back to visit soon, the loving parents informed their only son of their whereabouts before heading out themselves.

Neither party had even stepped foot outside of the village boundaries before the evil hanyou made his appearance.

"I wouldn't go anywhere if I were you." Naraku's voice surrounded them before walls of miasma encompassed the space between them and the forest. Now there was no chance for escape.

"Quickly everyone inside!" The elder miko bellowed as she readied her weapon along with the other warriors surrounding her. How dare this man have the audacity to attack the village which was once his only support!

Evil laughter encompassed the air as everyone took their positions, readying themselves for what was certainly looking to be a bloody mess. They found it unorthodox though that Naraku hadn't attacked by now – just what kind of cat 'n' mouse game was the bastard getting at?

"Come on ya asshole, did you just come to stand around all day or did you come to fight?" Tessaiga was at the ready; there wasn't any way he was going to be caught off guard with his parents watching. But it appeared as if the malicious hanyou didn't hear one word of Inuyasha's statement, for the glowing eyes they could see through the purple fog were fixed on Kagome; that only made the inu-hanyou ever more infuriated.

You could feel the nervousness and the fear practically pouring out of Kagome. Obviously Naraku's little plan had something to do with her but for what was anyone's guess. As she stood practically stone solid, both Kei and Mytonic moved into the view path separating Kagome from Naraku. Kei stood valiantly before his sister, his fencing sword in one hand and his sister's delicate digits in the other, with his dog at his side, daring the corrupted man before him to even attempt to come near them.

"You need a lot more than that sabre* to even scratch Naraku." Kagome whispered just loud enough to reach the ears of her towering brother. Not once did he have the chance to respond though, for spiteful laughter filled the air and Naraku's eyes zeroed in on Kei. You could tell something horrible was about to happen.

"Oh how sweet." Naraku began. "A brother taking charge of his sister's protection; that says a lot about your character if you are courageous enough to go up against a foe such as myself."

A tentacle shot out, aimed for Kei, but was met with the Tessaiga instead.

"Oi bastard you fight me! Leave the boy out of it." Inuyasha took a defensive stance in front of the siblings – wary of the look that was now in his enemy's eyes.

"If you don't want me to attack those two, then how about your parents instead?"

With a snap of his fingers five of his puppets surrounded Touga and Izayoi, each with their own small army of poisonous insects and dispelling a large amount of miasma - a kind none had ever seen before – which was somehow affecting the once-Lord greatly. The former Lord was already at the ready; teeth bared, claws curled dangerously, and mind trying to resist the influences the purple murk was having on him. He badly wanted to attack but doing so would leave his mate open and vulnerable – something he truly didn't want to risk. Even worse was the second guessing the toxic fumes were causing in his mind. Never had he had such a thing happened to him before with an opponent. Should he or shouldn't he attack? Could the risk be taken in leaving Izayoi alone for a few moments while he took them out? What was he supposed to do?

Thankfully his youngest son had decided for him. Within mere moments Inuyasha had taken two of the pawns out, Miroku a third, Sango the fourth, and the final was destroyed by one of Kagome's arrows that, consequently, went right through the final puppet and then through the miasmic wall – creating a small hole to the outside world.

"Old man, take mother and get the hell out of here!" Inuyasha commanded.

Touga began tugging his mate toward the only exit when suddenly it became totally blocked off by Naraku's tentacles.

"Now, now Dog General – you wouldn't want to leave just when you're about to meet a new member of the family do you?"

Instantly, Naraku's appendages were removed from the now sealed escaped route and were wrapped around Kei's body; raising him up high into the air to come face to face with the retched evil hanyou, struggling with all his might to break free since his sabre* had been lost to him. What was going to happen to him?

"Kei!" Kagome cried out worriedly as Mytonic took his master's place before her, taking a protective stance and growling menacingly like there was no tomorrow. Unfortunately it was that noise that brought Naraku's attention to the great white dog as well.

"Well, we can't have a family reunion without his other half, now can we?" Another set of tentacles broke out to wrap themselves around Mytonic and drag him up to hover next to his master. It horrified Kagome to watch what was happening next. Slowly but surely, more and more of Naraku's flesh began to cover the two victims, soon cutting them from view of the outside world. It took all Kagome had not to purify Inuyasha, who was now holding her within his grip, and run right into their enemy's grasp in an attempt to save her brother.

Dear Lord, what was that sick, twisted mind planning on doing?

Each member of the Inu-tachi took their turn in trying to break Kei and Mytonic out the makeshift cocoons but nothing would work. Their attacks were either defected or sent back at them thanks to Kagura and Kanna. The only other option was Red Tessaiga's attack but Inuyasha knew better than to risk doing such a thing.

For the first time in quite a while, the group was at a loss for what to do and it scared them deeply.

Naraku's laughter filled the air again. "Since all of you are done with your foolish attempts I shall reveal my reason for being here." A pregnant pause occurred. "There is a legend that many moons ago a child was born, one of infinite power, that not one person knew about – even the child's mother. The only one that knew of the child's existence was she who raised him, protected him, and trained him to defend himself against those who wanted him dead. Never did the boy know of how much power he had coursing through his veins and that would be his downfall in the future.

"At some point in his childhood, the woman who raised him was gravely injured and in her final days set upon him a spell and then dropped him down a certain well."

Gasps erupted throughout the clearing. This was a very bad development if Naraku already knew about the well – but that wasn't the current issue…

"The story goes that when a towering man and a pure white dog appear in this realm once again is when the world will begin to fall into peril." The two hovering cocoons began to glow an eerie blue color, becoming brighter with time.

"But first the two must be reunited and I plan to help that little detail along a bit."

The two glowing orbs slammed together with a triumphant BOOM while both a hurtful scream and a terrifying howl erupted throughout the air. All watched as the orb began to glow brightly on the inside, bright enough to see exactly what was happening to the two beings. Wide eyes watched as a dog's body hovered over a human's before slowly sinking down into it. The scream and howl combined to such a sorrowful sound as the two bodies were joined to make one.

Mytonic's body was gone, sunken into Kei's, but they couldn't see the effects of what had happened for the glow became excruciatingly bright and caused everyone to shade their eyes. Their attention was brought back though when a loud thud sounded throughout the air along with infuriated growls – growls that were attached to a being that, from the back, looked exactly like Kei. It would be a while before they found out though because all were too nervous to go near the man, who now was dripping with untold amounts of power.

"Do you remember now boy? Give me that which you protect." Naraku sneered, expecting his prize to be dropped into his waiting hand. Not once did he expect what would happen next.

The inhuman growling escalated even more before a large amount of energy was aimed straight at Naraku's form with just a flick of his wrist. Deadly blows tackled the evil hanyou's form; Sango even noted the wounds he received before completely disappearing from sight along with his children.

"I'll be back for the jewel – BOTH OF THEM!" All heard echoed throughout the air.

The miasmic wall dissipated and left the group surrounded by the worried villagers, all of whom were to wary to approach with the crouching form of the snarling Kei.

Gently easing herself out of Inuyasha's grasp, much to his protest, Kagome slowly walked closer and closer to her brother's form. True, she was nervous, but this was her brother! What could he ever do to her?

She was only four foot away from him now, softly calling out his name the entire way and not once getting a response as she got closer. From where she was now Kagome could see the differences. His hair was no longer only black, but white at the roots and blending out into pure black at its tips – his ears were just a bit higher on the sides of his head, they had become more pointed and… was that a tuft of fur? In fact wasn't that fur on the back of his neck?

"Kei are you alright?" She tried again only to receive the same response. Something clicked in her mind then and she hoped to whatever God's would listen that it would work. Of its own will, her hand reached out to lightly touch her brother's shoulder, stopping the boy's growls completely, his attention turned on her.

"M…" Her mouth went dry. "M…my...tonic?"

The face that filled her vision was the last thing she had ever expected to see. When her brother turned to gaze at her, she expected to see him as he normally was but what met her eyes had her gasping. Not only had Mytonic's body been absorbed into Kei's but some of his characteristics had taken over as well. Kagome's hand left his shoulder to softly stroke the fur atop the newly formed muzzle gracing her brother's once human face. It was a lot to take in; the wet black nose, the short white fur covering the entire expanse of his once peach face, the dagger filled muzzle that now stuck out from his jaw, the worried filled mismatched eyes – each one belonging to one of the two beings inhabiting the human body, and finally, the one thing that confused her even further, the backwards crescent moon gracing his forehead. Did it have a meaning of some kind?

Kagome was shocked even further when one of Kei's hands came up to cup her cheek. No longer were they human hands, but more paw-like. She could feel that his fingers were shorter, covered with fur, and that they were lined with deadly claws but the palm of his hand… they were the roughest she'd ever felt – feeling more like sandpaper than the smoothness she was used to. It was then she realized that his palm must have been covered with pads, like a dog would have upon its foot. Another whine and stroke of her cheek broke her trance.

"Oh Kei, what has he done to you?"

* * *

She didn't… He knew she didn't… no… would NEVER betray him in such a way – but the evidence before him told him otherwise. Was this the reason he felt the peculiar sense of family with both Tinkerbell and Mytonic? Was what he was thinking true? If so when did such an event take place?

_**"But that pup doesn't carry the correct scent! Another has graced our mate's bed!" **_His demonic beast roared out into his mind.

He clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the sights and scents of the outside world telling him differently. It wasn't true! Izayoi would never hurt him in such a way! Somewhere, deep in his mind, Touga knew the miasma that was left lingering in his system had something to do with his inconclusiveness but there was nothing he could do about it for it was gaining ground fast. He could feel Izayoi shaking his shoulder now; begging him to tell her what was bothering him so. The Dog General opened his golden eyes to answer her but what he saw first struck him cold.

Though they were many yards away from the crouched forms of the two "siblings", Touga could see them perfectly – and what he saw gracing the boy's furry forehead halted the words within his throat. There was only one male dog demon that he knew of with a moon mark… it disturbed him greatly to even think about it.

"Dearest please – you're beginning to scare me!"

Eyes were torn from the pair to gaze into Izayoi's chocolate orbs; feeling her grip tightening on his kimono in worry. To many thoughts, good and bad, were running through his mind right now to handle the situation. The bad outweighed everything though as he ripped himself away from her and backed away; anger filling his eyes.

"Touga?"

His eyes became red, jaw elongated, body started to grow… one last thing was said before he allowed the transformation and his urge to run fully take hold.

_**"You best hurry mate. Your bastard son might need your comfort!"**_

And with that he was gone – leaving a shocked Izayoi alone, confused, and hurt.

* * *

**A/N ~ Total words – 2,857**

***sabre ~ a medium weight fencing sword**

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**Hope you all like this chapter. As you can see a couple twists have been thrown into the mix. What do you all think it means? Naraku is after two jewels? What's the story behind Kei? What's up with Touga?**

**I do plan on drawing up a concept of how Kei is now so you all can get a look at what's going through my head.**

**PLEASE COMMENT/REVIEW ~ FLAMES WELCOMED!**


	40. IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE

**CRUCIAL AUTHORS NOTE**

Dear Readers, (my most favorite people in the whole world)

Unfortunately, my updates will be even slower than usual (again).

Due to the dumb a$$es (and I use that term endearingly) at the Wal-Mart Computer Extended Warrenty Center I am having to send my laptop in for the FOURTH TIME to be repaired. Granted, the first time they fixed the initial problem, but they (Wal-Mart) keep sending it back withh problems that it wasn't sent in with. First it was the pixels in my screen being black, the casing coming apart, the recovery gone wrong, and this weird microphone issue. (Where when I plugged in my earbuds the mics came on and I could hear EVERYTHING) Got it back the second time and still had the microphone issue so I had to send it in again. Third time I got it back we STILL have the mic problem (which is now going on and off even without the earbuds, like it's freaking possessed) PLUS the casing coming apart again, webcam taking upsidedown photos and no video (which it used to), the computer won't come on half the time and the damn thing thinks it's 2009 no matter how many times I change the date. They won't give me a new computer until the one I have now has been sent in with the same problem four times. Ugh...

Granted, I do have access to my mom's laptop but I don't want to mess it up. She's says she doesn't care but I don't know.

**HAVE NO FEAR THOUGH!** I've got half a chapter of "If Only In Reality" and "Her Life" done so that should make all of you happy. AND I am working on expanding "They Weren't The Only Ones" again. I'll get to "Curiosity" later - I've become unhappy with how I've written it so far and I want to change a few things.

I would like to thank all of you though for sticking by me after all of this mess. Hopefully the laptop will come back actually fixed this time and we won't have to go through this again.

My love to all of my LOYAL and WONDERFUL fans!

~ Daphneshaggydoo ~


	41. Reactions

**Curiosity – Chapter 40 – "Reactions"**

* * *

_***Izayoi*  
**__  
"He's gone."_

_"No! He can't be!"_

She was beginning to hyperventilate.

Breaths become harder and harder to grasp.

Falling to the ground; dust was stirred up around her, but did she care?

_"What did he mean my son might need my comfort? I don't understand."_

"Mother? Mother?!"

Izayoi could feel herself being shaken, could hear her son's voice calling for her, yet her muscles weren't responding. Blackness was starting to erupt in her vision.

She caught a glimpse of Inuyasha.

_"I've only ever had Inuyasha."_

A ghostly feeling of dulled pain washed over her. The event from which the feeling spawned burst wildly into her fleeting mind.

_"No, it couldn't be._

_"That never happened."_

The piercing sound of a howling cry infiltrated her dulling sense of reality.

_"But… that was only a dream."  
_

* * *

_***Inuyasha***_

I can't get mother to respond. It's started to scare me. Her scent is becoming so corrupt with panic that I am afraid she'll do something reckless. Wait, her scent is changing.

Shock?

What would she be thinking right now that would cause her to be shocked?

_"There's no time for answering the why's and who's though. What's more important to getting mother to calm down before her heart gives out. And as soon as that's taken care of, we can worry about everything else."_

Inuyasha gently hoisted his mother into his arms headed towards Kaede's hut.

Izayoi needed rest.

* * *

_***Kei***_

_"What's happened?" _ He questioned within his mind. Due to whatever that… monster had done he didn't have the strength to move hardly anything; it was a wonder that he was even walking at all. Granted, his sister was helping him, but at least it was something. He was grateful for the extra support on his left from Mytonic.

Wait….

Kei shifted his eyes to his left to see not his dog but an overgrown cat. Where was his dog?

_**"I am here."**_

Kei could hear the familiar canine's voice within his mind, yet, with his eyes, he could not see his lifelong companion.

_"Where are you?"_

_**"Whatever that thing was did something to us. Merged us somehow I believe."**_

That couldn't be. No being on earth had the power to do such a thing. Why was he the only one panicking about this? Shouldn't his sister be freaking out or something? There had to be a mistake.

_**"There is no mistake. I see the paw of the cat walking down the path on our left side. What do you see?"**_

By God it was true. Any further thoughts of this line ceased though as the rest of what he perceived as Mytonic's senses finally kicked into play. He could hear children laughing somewhere far off in the distance, the babbling of a river, could smell cooking fires and the sweat of hard working villagers. There was a completely different set of scents though that truly caught his attention.

His eyes shifted ahead to gaze slightly at bright red hakama and the billowing intricacies of a prestigious looking kimono. Something was different about the scents of Inuyasha and the woman he called mother; something that called to him on a deeper instinct to make him do things, but what?

Kei was so distracted by his current investigation of new senses that he didn't pay any attention to the other soul inhabiting his body.

_**"Why do I smell the familial ties between us?"**_

* * *

**A/N – total words – 573**

**Explanation of my absence will be in the next chapter's author's notes.**

**THANK YOU FOR STAYING WITH ME**

**PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS/REVIEWS ~ FLAMES WELCOME!**


	42. Disregards

**Curiosity ~ Chapter 42 ~ "Disregards"**

**Please read the Author's Note at the end of this chapter. It will explain my long lapse of absence.**** ~ Daphneshaggydoo  
**

* * *

_***Somewhere in the woods***_

He ran, pure and simple.

The demonic side of him was controlling his every movement and he could do nothing to stop it. He was powerless to the unaltered anger that was driving this piece of his soul forward through the territory to God knows where. Izayoi needed him now more than ever yet he could do nothing to change his current path.

Toga pleaded and begged the demon to turn back; to investigate all that had just occurred within the past few hours. It had to have been a mistake and the currently illogical beasty side of him just couldn't get that through his thick skull.

_"So this is where Inuyasha got his thick head from."_

The true Lord Toga was presently being held hostage in the darkest corner of his mind. He was contemplating just letting his wilder side run out all of its anger as he done a few times in the past. It'd certainly be easier to overtake him to regain control of his body that way he could high tail it back to his beloved mate and beg forgiveness.

At least, that was his current plan until something stopped him cold. Toga saw something from the outside world. A something that could barely be called a glimpse -

A VERY BAD barely there glimpse.

"NO NO NO NO NO!" Toga began pounding against the black walls of his mind; clawing furiously to get out and regain consciousness over his body. What that beast was about to do could NEVER be undone. Was that side of him truly such a fool?! "You can't do this!"

**"Oh, but I can. I'm the one in control not you." **The demon barked out a malicious laugh. **"Besides, you've become weak from being with that mortal woman for so long. All I'm doing is fixing everything for us; regaining our honor and power."**

"You can't truly say you didn't love and care for her as well! Even you rejoiced when I found the other half of our soul and left Sesshomaru's mother to be with our true mate. Why would you ever want to give that up?!"

**"That was before we knew she had another's child, but soon, that will all be a distant memory."**

Panic mode began and adrenaline rushed in his veins as he doubled his efforts to escape his prison. Poison flowed from his claws and what demonic energy he could muster pulsed from his soul but it phased nothing in the pitch black room. Toga went as far as to try to summon his true form and while he was able to transform into a smaller version of his true self it did nothing to help the situation.

Toga caught another glimpse of the outside world which caused him to begin to hyperventilate, something he'd never done before. Fear joined up right alongside of all the other thoughts flowing through his mind. What was he going to do? Surely there was something wrong with his other half. Could his demon side be a bit daft from being dead for so long? Could it truly have messed with his head so badly?

No! This wasn't the time to think of past causes, what mattered was the present, the NOW. This whole excursion needed to stop immediately. How was he going to make that happen though?

Another glimpse.

His heart beats faster.

Dear God they were almost there.

* * *

_***Tip top of a snowy mountain peak***_

At the top of one of the higher summits in Japan stood a small hut. This hut was nestled within the tightest of valleys where the snow never melted and barely stopped falling. One would think that the hut would be buried in deep snow year round; this thought though, if you would be brave enough to venture up to such an elevated height, would be proven wrong. A perfect circle of green surrounded the small hut while roaming, dipping hills of snow stood as the border beyond that creating a scene of something that could only be perceived in the pages of a fairy tale. One would think that no human would be crazy enough to even attempt living in such treacherous conditions.

But for a demon…

If you peaked through the window of the quaint home, one could see a human looked woman leaning over a cooking pot; possibly to check the taste or smell of her dinner. Yet, when she raised her head light green stripes were revealed adorning a faintly wrinkled cheek accented by her crown of black hair. With just a glance a person of this era most likely wouldn't know who she was for she'd long ago holed herself away from the world. To a few demons, though her appearance may have changed, she would forever be remembered as a Lady of the West.

The dog demoness went by Miyuki*, a fitting name that attested to the passion of her chosen residence. The former Lady of the West had aged little since her time on the throne. Within the last two thousand or so years few wrinkles adorned her face and her hair had faded from the traditional silver of youth to the inky blackness of age*, however, her full power still remained for the time being. It was discovered in her early years that she'd had the gift. No, not the gift of holiness and purification as a monk or miko, but the gift of powerful spell casting; a role humans would simply condemn her with as being a witch. Miyuki never went so far as to use her powers for evil though; only on things that would benefit either her family or the kingdom, so long as no one was hurt.

She'd never exactly told anyone why she'd retreated and stayed in her current home for so long. The woman supposed it might have been due to the death of her beloved. In the far future this medical issue would be deemed depression. After her beloved Yatsuo died she just didn't want to be around her kin any longer. This was when she'd retreated to the valley. There was a point when she wanted to return and be with her son but, then news of his death hit her hard and misery attacked her heart again. There was a point before that when she did, in fact, return. That though is a story for another day.

* * *

Miyuki was putting the finishing touches on her dinner. It was a bland tasting stew, one that she wished she could add a bit of kick to. Soon, she decides, she'll have to make a trip out of her mountain to retain supplies.

_"I'll have to make a list of supplies."_

A scent blustered against her nose from the crack in the wall. No. It couldn't possibly be.

She stood and moved to step outside take in the scent again. Leather, iron, and a faint scent of mint made for an odd combination to be flying across the winds and it was only getting stronger. Fear and hesitance started to cloud her thoughts. Should she prepare to fight whoever was coming her way?

The decision wasn't made fast enough before a clearly masculine figure ran ever closer to her home. He was standing across from her now, just inside the snowy barrier of the grass. How could this be? He'd died years ago from what she'd heard. Why had he just come for her now?

Suddenly he was in front of her; red eyes blazing and the scent of anger and despair rolling of him in disastrous waves. Anyone could tell that he truly wasn't in control.

"T…To…" Her voice cracked. "Toga?"

He didn't respond, only stormed his way past her, into the house, and went to stand before her shelves of potions.  
"Toga? Toga answer me!"

**"Make him forget."**

Miyuki just stood there still trying to adjust the situation. How could her dead son be standing before her? Why was he here now?

**"I said,"** He growled out.** "Make him forget."**

She saw him eyeing the bottle they both knew was the potion that took away unwanted memories. In no way did she know what he was thinking nor what events had led up to the current situation. She began moving closer to the shelf, hoping to grasp the bottle before something happened that both would regret.

"Why don't you sit and tell me what happened first my child. We wouldn't want to do anything rash." Anyone could hear the desperation in her voice.

**"If you won't do anything, I will."**

He made a lightning move to the bottle, as did Miyuki, but the beast side of him grasp it first and knocked his mother away, knocking her unconscious.

He uncorked the bottle.

**"Goodbye to Izayoi,"**

_"NO!"_ The true Toga screamed.

He rose the bottle as if in toast.

**"And hello to a loveless future."**

* * *

Toga wanted to scream, to fight, and to stop this madness, yet, the great lord lost control of his muscles and blackness started creeping into his vision. This would be it and he knew it. While true it wasn't death, nor a simple unconsciousness, the very thought of what was about to happen set aflame a terror in his heart that he'd never felt before in all of his existence.

"I love you Izayoi."

* * *

**A/N ~ Total words ~ 1,568**

***Miyuki ~ "beautiful fortune/happiness", "beautiful snow", and "deep snow"**  
***To explain this part. In my story, when a dog demon gets older, their hair turns black. In a way it's the opposite of humans. Humans = dark hair to white ~ dog demons = white hair to black**

**Now, for the explanation of my absence.**

**First, I would like to say that throughout this whole time I have been writing bits and pieces of all of my stories. Granted, they haven't exactly been to all the same chapter or same point of a story but I've still been writing.**

**The actual reason for my absence is broken up into several. The main one I believe is just the simple fact that I was being verbally bullied. There was an older man (not my any family members) who was trying to control things that I was over. Even other people noticed a difference in my demeanor. This went on for a few months because I'd never been in a situation like this before and I didn't know how to deal with it. (I am almost 21) Due to this bullying I've developed what I can only describe as a complex where I am tending to second guess myself about a lot that I do; including wondering if a chapter I write is worthy enough for you all to read. It's been very stressful. I've had a lot of people tell me that I need to quit a few things because they stress me out but, how can you give up something that you love to do?**

**Another thing is I think my dad's health is going even further downhill. He's been having a harder time hearing (he won't get hearing aids) and seeing (won't wear his glasses). He's not physically able to do much and we've got seven acres to mow, almost 300 trees to tend or top, cars that need worked on, etc. So it's up to me and my mom to do everything. He does some, but, I just get the feeling that he's given up.**

**I also started college this summer as well. Ivy Tech for an AAS in Computer Information Systems. Yet more of my time taken up.**

**I will be trying to post more chapters and faster that way you won't have to wait so long. Thank you to those who have stayed by me and for those of you who are just joining in on the fun.**

**PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! GOOD OR BAD! THEY KEEP ME MOTIVATED!**


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